


Bugs and Space Elves

by hikariisjaejj



Series: Out There [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Aliens, Elf/Human Relationship(s), Fantasy, KaiSoo - Freeform, M/M, Outer Space, Romance, Science Fiction, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Soulmates, World Build, kadi - Freeform, space, universe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-06-04 21:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 96,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15155981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikariisjaejj/pseuds/hikariisjaejj
Summary: Kyungsoo has an untimely run in with space elf Kai (he literally cuts his neck when they first meet). But for some reason, saving the entire universe is up to them?Human Kyungsoo and Space Elf Kai on an adventure through the planets of the universe, against impossible odds, meetings of untimely foes and a love that will last a life time.warning: public masterbation, tiny bit of gorelength: really fuckin' long





	1. He appeared from nothing

[x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_BIKweaGoM&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) \- playlist

 ֍   ҉   ֎

“Lampyridae, order Coleoptera. Not sure what species exactly but definitely Lampyridae.” Kyungsoo breathed in. “Well, because it’s dark a f.” He sighed and mentally cursed himself out. “I mean, because it is past midnight and the sun set at 7:34PM. It’s too dark to tell anything apart from anything…” He had only wished he could write this down rather than record his voice into a microphone. “Specimen has landed, in sight… Approaching gently.” His microphone had been connected by earbuds, and further connected to his phone. In his hands was a small glass container and its lid, ready to capture a lightning bug. However, just before he could capture the small thing it disappeared under a leaf. The syncopated glowing of the bug’s stomach made the leaf glow in the cutest of fashions.

Kyungsoo was a budding entomologist and was currently out in the middle of the local woods doing his summer field study on lightning bugs. Mating patterns specifically: thorax color when lit, male to female ratio, sizes, etc. It was to be a formal report with at least an hour of recorded material and a thirty-page research paper, including graphs, samples and evidence. It was a huge spectacle—as all college graduate programs make out to be. So of course, when Kyungsoo was not careful of his language in on his phone he was a little peeved that he would have to restart.

But of course, just as the male was about to trap the bug in his vessel did another bright light catch his eye. It was strange, this bright light was much too large and consistent to be a firefly; it was suspended mid-air, glowing and shimmering like starlight. It was not far from the male, just a few feet away. A little further behind him was his campsite, where if this bright light was a threat he could hightail out with efficiency.

When the male looked back at his hands to see if he had caught the lightning bug, he cursed to see that it was gone. The swear was vocal and he mentally slapped himself for being so vulgar on the microphone.

“Specimen has gotten away. However, I’ve discovered something else. An anomaly of generated light seems to be suspended just a few feet away. The object is rather small, yet it casts a glow of fog around it.” All thoughts on the lightning bug disappeared, he had been enthralled by this sudden piece of mystery as it began to flicker.

The male walked toward the orb, slowly, through the thicket of the forest. Branches creaking and bushes ruffling as he maneuvered through. The cool late summer air was light in humidity, the foliage covered in a layer of dew. It grazed against his clothes and skin leaving small kisses of coolness as he brushed against them.

The closer he got the more curious his mind inferred. What on this good earth had been reflecting light so perfectly? What could have possibly been playing the coolest trick of light he had ever seen? It could not have been a lightning bug, it was too big and constant. It could not have been a flashlight, too concentrated. But as he got closer he started to notice that the light was relatively small, and possibly more than a 2D reflection.

“What the…” He mumbled into his microphone. The atmosphere had a significantly different temperature as he got closer to the light. It was beyond freezing, like he had stepped through an invisible wall and suddenly into this frozen paradise of a summer night. What took him by even more surprise was the lack of movement. What little breeze was being offered had completely and suddenly disappeared, no crickets chirped, and no bats squeaked. But what got him unnerved was the suspension of lightning bugs midflight—quite literally, they were paralyzed. They all had lights on their stomachs lit up and yet there was no movement nor fading. The male stopped and inspected one for a hot second.

“Um.. I really don’t know what the fuck is going on here. But it just got freezing cold, like below freezing point and there are lightning bugs completely suspended in air and not moving. Lemme see if I can—” He took his phone, turned on his flashlight and opened his camera. He took pictures and two videos of different bugs on the way over to the light. It was unsettling and exciting all the same, but he kept forward and wondered if the mysterious light had anything to do with the frozen-in-time landscape.

As he inched closer his mind raced even further with questions. All the way until he was standing just in front of the flickering orb.

His eyes glowed with the light in front of him, his breath lost and everything on his front shining in the light. It was indeed spherical, round and ping pong like. Odd enough, the closer he got to the light the hotter he felt. As his stomach was in line with the orb he could feel a sort of heat that nearly wanted to burn. Even as he stood just in front of it he dared not to get any closer as it produced a heat so hot he thought a hole would burn into his stomach. He had half a mind to take out his headphones and put away his phone, but as he tried to meddle with it he noticed that his phone had been turned off. No mattered how long he held the on button it simply would not turn on; the signature bitten apple would not appear. He was pretty sure his phone was on 78% just a moment ago.

After shoving his phone away he focused back on the sphere, bringing up a hand and readying himself to touch the heat source. It may or may not have been fate that he did not get to touch it, but he was better off. Touching the object would have rather severe consequences, but that is a story for another time. Instead, something entirely unexpected happened. Something unplanned and almost unwelcome.

It happened fast and it hit hard, like the impact of a baseball against a bat. Darkness swept the area, the light having disappeared, and the male was crashed into by something large, warm and solid. The force was so great that he tumbled back and fell against a tree, hitting the ground hard.

Within seconds of disorientation something cold and rather sharp was held against his neck. The heaving breath of another threw Kyungsoo off even more so when his head was yanked back by the very follicles of his hair.

“Shisen wena, ku’uma nothelion.” A voice suddenly blurted.

Something was wrong. Something felt very out of place. Kyungsoo sat there, another male crouched on him and threatening him with a knife. Yet for some reason his mind could barely comprehend it.

“Shisen wena?” The voice came more aggressive than before. “Ku’uma nothelion?”

 He furthered by pressing the knife harder against the neck.

The male gasped, his heart pounding against his chest at the circumstance. “W-Wait!” He panicked. “Pl-Please I can’t understand you!”

“Kalan por thune!” The sudden stranger yanked the male’s hair down further.

“Please please please! Stop! Please, I’ll do anything. I’ll give you my money, it’s just down the path at my campsite. I’ll give it to you, just please let me go.” He spoke quickly and carefully, not to upset the knife that was held tightly against his Adam’s apple. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

Kyungsoo held his eyes shut tight, the breath of the stranger hot on his face as he threatened.

Suddenly, a small yet sharp incision was made on his neck. He screamed in response. “Hey hey hey hey heY!! WAIT, WHOA. STOP, PLEASE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING I’LL DO WHATEVER JUST SHOW ME.”

The stranger leaned in and sniffed the blood that trickled down the Kyungsoo’s neck, it was very light and extremely small. Nothing serious, but painful like a paper cut.

“You.” The stranger suddenly said as he fixed his grip on the male’s head. “Show me leader.”

“W—... what…?

“Bring me leader.”

“I’m sorry, what? What do you mean??”

“Leader!” He pressed.

“What leader?! Who, who!?” Kyungsoo panicked as the knife was pressed into his cut and letting the pain sear through.

“Leader!” The stranger yelled.

“Like who?! My professor?! Is that what you want?”

“What Professor?” The stranger was suddenly calmer.

“He’s my teacher? You know professor?? He has a doctor’s degree in entomology with a master’s in ecology? Passes his knowledge down to other people, you know students?” He slowed his words down; this person clearly had a heavy accent and little understanding of the English language.

“Teacher.. No, want leader! You world leader, one true ruler.”

“W-We…” That was an odd question to suddenly ask. “We don’t have a world leader…” Kyungsoo questioned more than stated. What kind of question was that? “Of course we don’t have a world leader, is this some kind of sick joke?”

“Joke? No joke. Must speak with leader. Quick.”

“What the fuck you mean?? Like the fucking president? The queen of England? Prime Ministers? Like, which leader? There are so many different leaders!! Where the hell did you even come from—?”

The stranger pulled his hair down and shoved the knife against his throat again. “No question. I talk. One true leader, where?”

“There is no one you stupid asshole!”

Suddenly the stranger let go and Kyungsoo could see his offender. His hair was long and white in the small bits of moonlight that could shine through the tree tops. Eyes golden, and clear.

“You, what are you?” The long silver haired man demanded.

“What the fuck—”

“Answer question.”

“I’m a human!” He shrieked and nearly wanted to add “just like you” but something held him back.

“Human? I never hear of you species before. You communication with worlds, what is?

“I’m sorry what?” He felt his neck gently, rubbing it to ease the cut.

“How advanced are you people? What extent of interstellar communication?”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Kyungsoo held his hands up. He was freaking out with how fast the man’s accent was changing to something near perfect native North American English. “What in the fuck is going on here? What do you mean who am I and communication? Who the fuck are you?!”

“No important. Only what I do is important. I ask kindly, one last time, bring me to you leader.”

“There is no leader, you.. Urgh!” Kyungsoo breathed firmly. “Say that you’re some celestial being, hm? Say that you seriously have no idea of how this place works. Then your answer is a straight up no…! There’s an organization called the United Nations that convene and make a series of laws and regulations for countries to follow, though. That’s honestly your best bet.”

“What you speak. Truth?”

“As truth as can be.”

“Then take me to the United Nation.”

“No, no, no, no.” He shook his head. “That’s not how that works. You’d be interrogated by the CIA or FBI or Secret Service, or something! Waaaay before you could get in touch with anyone apart of the UN. Even then, who’s to say that they’ll listen to you—what are you doing?” He quickly changed. The stranger was fiddling with something on his hand. “What are you doing?” He raised his voice as the stranger ignored him and noises squeaked from his wrists.

“I must come to wrong place. This not Krakatos. You are not a part of the Eletrinsku Lal Em. Therefore, you are not correct. I must fix this passing.” Within a moment, there was a flash, white light that blinded Kyungsoo, following a trail of white luminescent smoke.

“What the fu—,” in the next moment all bugs in flight froze. The air chilled just as it had done before this strange man had appeared. Another ball of light began to flicker in and out, this time more strained than the last. The man stayed on the ground where the stranger left him, watching and waiting for something to happen. Another flash of bright white light appeared, a cloud of luminescent white smoke all about.

The stranger appeared through the white smoke, standing tall and looking carefully through his surroundings.

“Aaaaand, welcome back.”

The stranger was startled and looked for the voice.

“I have returned… There something not right.”

“Yeah, you got that right. The fucking fact you keep doing that shit isn’t right.” Kyungsoo rested his head against the tree he was leaned up against. Closing his eyes he listened to the soft sounds of the early onset of crickets; it was too early in the season for the chirping. But that was hardly important, he just needed a moment to process what was going on.

“My device malfunctioned. It will not take me to destination. This clearly not where I must be…” His accent was almost near perfect, his English improving so much that Kyungsoo wondered if he as himself might have accidentally died, this whole situation was quite ridiculous.

“So, you don’t actually need a leader then?”

“I do. My journey require I must meet every leader, every world.”

“Why..? Whywhywhywhy why why???” He rushed as he thought. “What is so goddamn urgent that a fucking alien has to speak to world leaders?”

“Doom. Upon all life.” Not a falter left his voice.

“Wh-What kind of doom?”

The stranger sighed. “There is great being in universe. It makes it way through by eating all in path to make itself large. The more it eat the more is big. Is a parasite, eating off all matter and leaving nothing behind… And it making a course for this way. I have been entrusted with a duty to warn all life forms of this doom.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, I’m sorry what the fuck? That’s… What do you mean? Like the end of the universe as we know it?”

The two looked at one another in the dim light of the forest.

“Yes.”

The human felt his stomach churn, “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“I would not lie about such a thing.”

There was an awfully long silence. The stranger was waiting for some sort of response and Kyungsoo was trying to wrap his head around all that had happened in the last ten minutes.

“I must be out of my mind..” He whispered. “Look, I can’t help you with anything. You’ll probably die here before you move on and warn another planet. But I can, like, make a Facebook page and other social media accounts promoting it. But that’s about it. That’s all I’ll do. You’re on your own. Understand?”

“This reluctance to save your people… Why is that? After you witness my body out of thin air, do you still not believe what I say?”

“No it’s not that. In fact, there’s so much that I don’t understand of this whole situation that I don’t know what’s real or not… But it’s a lot more than just that. It’s the fact that I know the rest of my world won’t believe you or believe anything that you have to say. You’ll never make it to government places without someone shooting you down or questioning you into oblivion. It’s not possible. Trust me. I can guarantee it. And even if you could convince them of what you are, they’ll see you as a threat, and wonder what else would be a threat. They’d probably dissect you like it was your only purpose in life. You’d never make it out alive, figuratively and literally.”

“Then what would you have me do? Can you not get me to these government places?”

“No, not without the right clearance. I don’t even begin to know how to point you in the right direction. No one would believe me.. No one would believe you. And if they did you’re as sure as dead… it’s fucked.” Kyungsoo whispered the last part. “If this thing is coming for us, then we’re truly fucked… Even if… Even if you could warn us, there’s nothing that we could do about it, is there? Obviously since you’re going around telling planets about this, then that means not even the technology to defeat it exists. Plus! We’re nowhere near as advanced as you, we couldn’t even escape if we wanted too.”

The stranger was silent, his golden eyes wading and watching the small man hold his neck.

“These words you speak. Do you speak them in representation of your people?”

Kyungsoo furrowed a brow. “...I shouldn’t. But I guess I am. You’re better off somewhere else.”

“Then so be it. The fate of this world was now put in your hands and you have made the decision… But I not go on until my device is fix. For now, I require bed, food and cleanliness. Does your planet offer such hospitalities?”

Kyungsoo grimaced. “Yeah, yeah, we do. Some cultures go as far as offering gifs to strangers. Like marriage proposals.” He chortled. “But not here. And especially not now. I can only offer you somewhere to sleep and a little bit of food. We’re in the middle of the woods right now. Pretty far from civilization so you’ll have to bear with it.”

“These woods you speak? Are your people solitary and barbaric here?”

“What? No,” He snickered. “Once upon a time yeah, but I’m just out here doing research for my senior thesis. I plan on gathering all my field research by camping out here.”

“Camping.”

“Yes. Where you leave all your modern technology and go out into the wilderness to be one with nature and what was originally here on this good earth.”

“But based on molecular makeup of this planet these trees were not here first.” The stranger questioned with a tilt of the head.

Kyungsoo spoke through gritted teeth, “They were here long before me…” He paused. “Wait a minute. Why should I offer you jack shit?! You cut me!”

“I wanted to see the effects of my knife against your outer form. As it turns out your makeup is mostly water, I wanted to test and see how fast it would take to kill you.”

The human dropped his jaw.

“This research you were doing then, you are a scholar are you not?”

“Sort of. A student of bugs.”

“A Student of Bugs.” The stranger bowed and held a hand across his heart, or, supposed heart. “Greetings.” He bowed his head low and rose with ease.

“Wait a minute, that’s not my name.”

“Forgive me, not every planet is different with addressing individuals of species. That is not your title?”

“N-No, it is! I am a student!”

“A Student.” He bowed again with the same hand gesture on his heart. “Greetin—”

“No no no, my name is Kyungsoo! Do Kyungsoo!!”

The stranger tilted his head. “This name is odd in your language you speak.”

“Yes, that’s because I’m Korean. Which is a much different language and culture from the one here.”

“There are many cultures here?”

“Thousands.” Kyungsoo began to stand up, wiping his knees and trying not to irritate his neck.

“And you speak two cultures?”

“No no, languages. I speak two languages fluently. English, this one, and Korean.”

“Then cultures are…”

“What follows as tradition and behaviors of certain areas. You know, how people act and such? It’s what makes us diverse—wait a minute.” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Does—did—does that…? Does that mean you didn’t know English just ten minutes ago?”

“Is English the name of your language you speak?”

“Yes…?”

“How have you come to this conclusion?”

“Because you didn’t know the difference between culture and language. And because you’re from another fucking world and because your accent is quickly disappearing.” Kyungsoo was breathing deeply again, his chest rising and falling, but his eyes never left the person in front of him.

“Your conclusion is correct. You are quick to observe. You may be useful, yet.” The alien held himself firm before looking out and surveying as much as the distance could allow him. “All languages have a basic structure. Especially less developed societies such as this one, based on your speech pattern. Learn the algorithm to language-structure and you can accommodate to any and almost all languages.”

“...Wait..” Kyungsoo blinked for a moment. “You mean there’s like an equation to follow and you plug in the numbers in order to learn a language?”

“If this is how you must see it, then yes. It is true.”

“How in the fuck—”

“Although I am not perfect, my people are fast learners. Our evolution has developed our ability to comprehend our surroundings.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Of course. Great. Wonderful. Perfect. Can’t wait to see what amazing things you’ll do.” He walked forward, waving a hand as he talked but not directing it to anything.

The stranger said not a word and followed Kyungsoo promptly. The crunching of dried leaves and ruffling of bushes made him irritated and itchy with the way it scratched at the bare parts of his skin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kyungsoo spat as he turned to face the stranger.

“I’m following you, to shelter and food.”

Kyungsoo scoffed in the stranger’s face. “You were serious about that.”

“Yes. No finer a host.” The stranger and his white hair smiled curtly and nodded his head. There was nothing great about it but the snark that presumed from him (at least that’s what it felt like to Kyungsoo; after all, he was an alien and probably knew little to no human mannerisms.)

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have a headache.” He mumbled to himself. “I’m going to get into so much trouble for this.” He sighed and walked forward.

“Worrying about troubles of things like this is insignificant to troubles that lie ahead.”

They walked in silence as Kyungsoo brought out the flashlight on his phone and lead the way. His phone had been working perfectly fine again.

Just what the hell was going on here?


	2. And he had a name

֍   ҉   ֎

“Are you not curious of my name?”

“Not particularly. The less I know the better. Lesser chance of getting attached… Unless you’re some sort of alien parasite that will suck my brains out if I don’t get your name. Or if you’re some galactic king or whatever and what I do might start an entire galactic war.” Kyungsoo was not too sure, but he could have sworn the breathiest and lightest of chuckles came from behind him.

“Like said before. Petty things like that won’t matter. There is true threat that none of us can hope to stop if we cannot escape… I may not even have a home come the time I travel back.”

Down the way a small orange light flickered in a relatively small opening, it truly was not far from where they were. A small blue tent was pitched and a fire that was dying out had a pot full of leftover dinner. The first thing that Kyungsoo did upon arriving, besides fixing his face because he did not how to react to the alien’s last words, was stoke the fire and get it roaring again. He felt like he was breaking out in a sweat, but he could hardly understand any of the feelings running through his veins. He was surprised he could breathe at all, to be honest

“I have leftover sausage and potatoes in this pan. I can heat it up if you like.”

“I would enjoy that. What are these items?” He took a seat closer to the fire than Kyungsoo thought necessary.

“This.” He stabbed a sausage with a fork. “Is bratwurst. Different kinds of meat seasoned and cased and smoked. It comes from animals. This.” He stabbed a potato. “Is a root. You boil it until it’s soft and mash it together with butter and salt and it’s tasty. It’s hearty and plentiful.”

“That sounds delicious enough.”

“Do you not have these? Or sausages?”

“Yes, my world has this delicacy. Although, I’m sure components are much different. My taste may not compat with it.”

“…I think you mean compatible, but I bet it’ll be fine, thi—”

For the first time, Kyungsoo had looked up and stared straight into the alien’s face. The light of the moon, and the small light of the now working fire brought together all the glimpses and pieces he had been trying to discern since the moment they met.

He, or whatever it was, was beautiful. His face was long, and round, pointed and prominent in every aspect. Lips thick and eyes crested as beautiful slits of agony. He did not bear a happy expression, perhaps it was his face, perhaps it was his past; the point being, he was not a very happy looking being. His hair was stark white, long, and drenched over his shoulders and back, half of it was tied back in braid like patterns and held by metal pieces of brilliance. Bangs that easily covered his forehead and danced like droplets of water when the wind grazed by. His eyes were the same, sparkling a similar amber color of the fire—light and clear. Yet a dark haze surrounded the outer skin, like a dressing of makeup. Markings littered his cheek bones in small dots and curved lines in a light shade of luminescent blue, intense in its bright color. He was large, at least near six foot seven, it explained the undeniable weight on top of him just moments ago. He was built, strong and muscular, six prominent abdominal muscles in each column that bore through his outfit. Biceps and triceps that laid in resting position yet still intimidating. His clothes were raunchy, risqué even. White pants that stopped at his calves and tied off like balloons, white and crested in a dark color, too dark to properly figure out. His shoes were made of wrappings (leaving his toes out) dark and designed with something light on each strip. His shirt was white like his pants and mostly open. Sleeves that cut off at his shoulder tips and torso tucked into the hem of his pants yet the ends never connected. It left a long “v” down his middle and showed off the contour of each muscle and glorious bone. Around his waist was a darkly red colored wrap, another chain of gold looking metal wrapped around it with another darkly colored bag on top and attached to his hip. On his shoulders was a cape, red—bright red, and pinned with a gold chain. His arms were bare except for the light tattoos that circled the upper areas and led down in rather intricate manners. On his left wrist was device Kyungsoo had never seen before, thick enough to be a bracer yet bulky enough to be a clock. 

He seemed important by the way he was dressed, yet utterly risqué with how much body he protruded. It made Kyungsoo sneer, jealousy really. He himself was thin, frail and short. This alien could have snapped him in mere seconds if he truly wanted to.

“Po..tatoes…” The stranger finished.

Kyungsoo closed his jaw after realizing it was open and shook his head. “Y-Yeah…” He breathed in. “What was I talking about?”

“If my planet had potatoes?”

Kyungsoo stared the man down, waiting for an answer.

The stranger knit a brow, confused at the stare off.

Kyungsoo motioned his head forward as if beckoning the alien to answer his own question.

“Well do you?”

“We-We have roots that we cook but not potatoes. I’m sorry is something the matter? I don’t understand what just happened.”

“Nothing, nothing. It’s nothing.” Oh how Kyungsoo would never admit how he just spent a good long while checking out an alien. “I’m sorry but, where are you from? You look completely human to me. Just freakishly tall and muscular.” Kyungsoo blinked as he put the potato back in the pot and began to stir the items about.

“I come from planet Eleto. Yiq ahn li kom, mak erith thian .” 

Kyungsoo froze, looking up at the stranger as if he had seen a ghost…paler than usual.

“If my translation is correct, that means Quadrant 1 3 7, System 8-Erith, from the Eletrinksu Lal protocol. You’ll have to forgive me, but I do not know the direct translation of erith.”

Kyungsoo nodded in understanding. “Is that the name your so-called protocol developed?”

“Yes. It is. It is part of a vast numerical library that sorts out every planet that there ever was, is and eao.”

“E-Eao?”

“It is Allevanen for future. However, it’s meaning is much more complex.”

“A-Allevanen?”

The alien nodded. “The language of my people, my city.”

“Might I ask.” Kyungsoo cleared his throat as it had turned an octave higher, basically, it cracked. “What are you then?” 

The stranger sat up straight and kept a firm stare on the latter. But as he sat up perfectly straight, his hair fell back and flat against his head; out poked two rather pointy looking ears from the sides. Both of them decorated in beautiful earrings of gold and bright gems, some dangling elegantly and others fluttering like feathers.

“I am a etohn, as human is to you. And I am an Allve, from the county of Allé… My people rule as the dominant race, my father the high king of Eleto.”

“You’re a fucking elf—wait a minute, did you just say your dad was the high king?” He stumbled over his words, his thoughts going too fast for him.

“Yes.”

Kyungsoo could not take his eyes off the pointed ears.

“So then you’re like… The prince? Like crown prince, like the real important prince, like the one who’s going to take over one day.”

“If there is a place left when I return, then yes.”

“Jesus fuck, I could start a war—!”

“Like I said Little Student, there are much bigger things in the universe than war right now.”

“Little student—?”

“At first light tomorrow, I shall tend to my device and hope to be on my way once more. In the meantime, I would gather your friends and family and try to get out of here.”

“How? I already told you we didn’t discover that kind of technology yet. At least the governments haven’t shared it with is yet.” Kyungsoo snapped, the sizzling of the sausage splattered oil on his hand.

“Then I would pray to whatever gods you believe in and hope they come to your rescue.”

Kyungsoo sat back in the dirt, his brows so terribly furrowed that his headache was starting to worsen. What if this was fake, what if this was all a terrible dream? It was possible, right? 

“Jesus fuck…” He muttered.

“These words you say, ‘jesus fuck’, they are aggressive words of speech?”

“I guess… I picked it up from my friends. Fuck is a swear, definitely. Jesus is a religious thing, so like, basically I’m saying a blasphemous thing? I dunno, I’m not religious.”

“You are not religious?”

“Nah, most people aren’t nowadays.”

“I would start then.” 

Kyungsoo grimaced at how utterly serious the man was, it was kind of a rude statement if you had to ask him. 

“Here, I don’t have plates, so eat out of this.” He removed the pot from the fire and placed the cooking fork in the food for the alien. As he placed the pot in front of the alien he made sure his eyes never left him. His skin was definitely a shade or two darker, and flawless. He produced a certain kind of smell Kyungsoo noticed, not putrid or rancid, but closer to the way a ripe mango tasted. It was an odd description, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.

“Please do not be offended by my odor. I have not cleansed in sometime; my smell will probably be unusual to you.”

“U-Uh oh! No! I wasn’t offended at all. You just… You smell like fruit. So I guess that’s weird..”

“Fruit is food. What kind?”

“Sweet, and tasty.”

“Sweet. What defines as a sweet taste?”

“Uh… Well it’s the opposite of that. That’s salty.” Kyungsoo stepped away and back to his spot across the fire. “Oh.. You know what, you might have different tastes than we do.. Well, whatever you taste when you eat that that’s salty and savory to us. The opposite is sweet.”

“Opposites.. I know these kinds of tastes. We have six different ways food taste on my world, each of them have an opposing taste.”

Kyungsoo slowly nodded wondering how many tastes Earth really had. There was sweet, sour, salty, bitter, creamy, savory, gamey, was rotten or fermented considered a taste? What was rotten fish considered? What about spicy? Was that considered a taste? He could not remember for the life of him. But as he thought he almost missed what the stranger was doing, sniffing and nibbling a small piece of the sausage. Kyungsoo chuckled internally at it, after all, a big guy like him could probably go down by a terrible allergy or food poisoning. But as the alien further inspected the meat he took bolder bites.

“Is it good?”

“This is interesting.” He took another bite. “I would not eat this ever again, but it will satisfy me enough.”

Kyungsoo verbally chuckled, “Try a potato then.”

The alien went ahead and did so. He did not like the way the texture felt in his mouth and made a disgruntled face.

Kyungsoo laughed a little harder at the man’s face. “Not good?”

“No, I like the flavor. It reminds me of malaeth back home. The texture, not so much. It is odd, like rocks on my tongue.”

Kyungsoo’s neck lurched forward with his curiosity. “Well that is very unexpected. To us they’re smooth and easy to chew.” 

“Yes it is quite easy on my mouth, but the bursts of rocks feel like sand..”

“If you can’t eat it, don’t worry. I have something else.” Kyungsoo for a moment thought the dirt might have gotten in the food but there was no recollection of kicking any up by accident. They were canned potatoes so there was no way because he did not wash them correctly. Maybe he had been chewing on a few bugs? 

“No, this shall do Little Student. I am in happiness at what you have given me.”

“Didn’t sound so happy…” He mumbled to himself.

“This word you called me earlier, elf. What is this?”

“Oh.. Well… An elf…” Kyungsoo grimaced again, his lips contorting as he tried to think of something. “An elf is typically… this magical creature in folklore, or mythology. They hang out around forests and are elegant and beautiful and are good marksmen and are just kind of a superior race in most fantasy.”

“Well, I could not tell you about superiority, but most are intimidated by us. But yes, my people are heavy in forested areas and are quite intelligent. And if I had a bow to replicate my marksmanship, well, then I would be able to prove a point. It seems this race of ‘elf’ you speak of may not be so far from myself.” He piled another fork full of potato and sausage in his mouth.

“Maybe… I doubt it though.” He mumbled again, poking at the fire. 

A silence was strewn between the two as the alien ate, Kyungsoo felt so unbearably uncomfortable. Like he had so much to ask but did not know where to start or what was appropriate. What was the point of even asking if apparently the world was ending?

“So! ...wh-what uh… um…” Kyungsoo cursed under his breath as he tried to find a way to start conversation again. “So like, how far is your world from mine?”

“I do not know this. This world is not a part of the Eletrinsku Lal protocol. My assumption is that you are out of reach of the Eletrin Organization, which is about.. Well, I could not directly translate it but the number is litach imn. Imn is a measurement of distance according to the Eletrin Organization, it is recognized by all a part of the protocol. If I had access to more knowledge of your people I might be able to make conversions.” He was polite, he always talked after he was done chewing, and ate after he was done speaking. If he was truly hungry, he never seemed like it. 

Kyungsoo looked over to his side where his phone lay. It was a good start if the alien wanted more information. Measurements and such would have to wait for a demonstration when he had an opportunity. 

“Um, if you want to know more, you can use my phone.” He held the device up.

“Your glass box? You call it a phone?”

“Yeah, it’s an evolved way of communicating with anyone in the world. You dial numbers into it and then it connects to whoever you want. But you can also search information on it. We have an internet that stores millions of items of information and all you have to do is ask a question and it gives information. Watch:” Kyungsoo held up his phone and held the home button. “Siri, what is the name of our solar system?” He released the button and listened to the ding as Siri processed the question.

“Alright, here’s what I got:” The phone responded in a computerized voice. Kyungsoo proceeded to get up and lead with his phone out to show the alien. 

“Do you mind if I sit?”

“You may sit.” 

Kyungsoo sat next to the stranger and held his phone up that showed a series of articles about the Milky Way. He read them aloud and watched as the alien processed everything. The alien let a hand go of what he was eating and quickly grabbed the phone, reading and scrolling through the articles. He was catching on quickly, seeing that it was touch screen and everything could just about be clicked. If he could read, that was another situation. 

“So that algorithm you talked about with language? It works for reading and writing too?”

“No, it does not. A simple touch allows me a small connection to how you see and understand nuances of language; and for me to be able translate things on my own. The moments that I had you under my knife was all I needed to see into your languages. Though, I only took to the one you were speaking and not the other language you know.”

“Huh..” Kyungsoo snorted, this alien seemed to have an answer to everything.

“Siri, what is the human population on Earth?” The alien suddenly asked.

“Hmm.. Let me think. The population of the world is about 7.28 billion people.” 

“Is this accurate?” The alien looked over to Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, that’s pretty accurate.” Kyungsoo chuckled as he watched the alien try and figure out how to click things. “It reads your skin, that’s cool.”

“What do you mean?” The alien shifted to look at Kyungsoo, his hair and jewelry jingling in harmony as he did so. 

“It means that you and I really are not that different. You can’t move that screen around unless it’s with skin or a stylus. Even your tongue can be used! But not a solid nail, or a rock or a blade of grass could move it. Actually, watch this.” Kyungsoo got up and began to rummage through his book-bag near the tent.

The alien sat in his spot and picked up sticks and small rocks to rub on the screen. “Your people are more advanced that I gave you.”

“Heh, I’m sure we’re still far behind. We can’t even get people to Mars yet.”

“Mars.”

“Another planet in our solar system.”

“But you know you are not alone here, that is a start.”

“No, most people think we’re alone. The planets in our system don’t support life. Or none that replicates ours enough.” Kyungsoo groaned as he stood up with a water bottle in his hands. “Oh hey, easy there, that’s an expensive phone. It’d be nice if the screen wasn’t scratched up.”

The alien stopped and looked up at the man.

“What is that?” He tossed the rock to the side.

“Water, in a bottle—you drink this. But watch this first.” He took the phone from the alien and placed a corner of the bottle’s bottom on the phone screen, moving it around and watching as the app icons moved side to side. 

“But that is not skin.”

“Nope, it’s not. I have no idea why that works.” He handed the phone back and let the alien mess around with it more, using the bottle to move things around and click. After a moment of letting the alien play he took the bottle and opened it. “Drink.”

The alien took the bottle and sniffed it, he shook it around and gave it a thorough inspection before placing his lips at the opening and allowing a small amount into his mouth. He ripped the substance away and coughed as it covered his clothes.

“Uh-oh, please don’t start melting.” Kyungsoo got up to take the water away as the alien kept coughing. 

“This…” The alien panted. “This is not very pleasant. It is…” His eyes were squinted, and mouth puckered as he tried to lick his lips. 

“It looks like it tastes sour to you. Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes. I am fine. That was just.. Interesting. I shall finish drinking it.” He took the bottle from Kyungsoo and proceeded to finish it off. 

“You don’t have to put yourself through that.” Kyungsoo grimaced as he watched the alien.

“No, it tastes alright now. I just had to get used to it. It tastes like the drink back home. Alem. But this is defiled in some way. Like it had turned bad.”

“Alem?” 

“Yes. I would be bold enough and say the similarity is that both are water, alem to my people is water to yours.

“Mm..” Kyungsoo nodded and left the alien to his spot.

Another silence impregnated them, this time the alien was immersed in Kyungsoo’s phone, taking in all the information he could possibly find. In another moment he asked a question.

“Little Student. What age are you?”

Kyungsoo snorted. “Twenty-three.” 

He nodded and went back into the phone.

“Why, how old are you?”

“Translated, I am thirty-five. But by earth standards, two-hundred and ten.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth dropped.

“My people seem to have extended life spans in comparison to you. It takes about six earth years for my planet to rotate around our sun. But we do not go by that system. It is much more complicated than that.”

Kyungsoo had closed his mouth at some point and wiped the drool coming from his lip.

“So like, geez.” He stuttered, not knowing what to say. “So then, like, well… You look great for two-hundred and ten.”

“Yes, an Allve is not considered an adult until they are thirty. Similar to some places on Earth where it is sixteen or eighteen.” 

Kyungsoo nodded his head in understanding. It was very interesting to hear this, he just was not sure of how to express that. “So you became an adult recently then?”

“Relatively, yes.”

“Ah..” Kyungsoo nodded, pretending like he understood any of that.

“North and South Korea. These places speak Korean.”

“Oh, yeah. I was born and raised in South Korea.” 

“Then are we in South Korea? You aren’t speaking the language right now.”

“No, we’re in Canada.” Kyungsoo chuckled as he laid on the ground and played with an entirely black beetle scurrying around his leg. “Nova Scotia to be exact.”

“This is on the other side of the… Pak.. Pack.. Pacific.”

“Pacific. The c makes an “s” noise.”

“That is odd… Can I ask why you are not in your homeland?”

“I’m doing my graduate studies here in the University of Halifax. I’m an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology grad student with a focus in bugs.” He said as he held up his hands and watched as the black beetle maneuvered around them.

“This is a bug then?” The alien motioned to the small black thing on his hand.

“Yup.”

“Did you choose this profession? Your people have free will then?”

Kyungsoo was shocked to hear such words. “Well.. Of course, we have freewill. Most people can choose what they want to do with their lives.”

“You say most.” The alien inquired.

“Well… Some people can’t help their situation and have to do other things. Like.. Well some people resort to prostitution for money. Some people resort to drugs.. I dunno it’s different. Oh! Like rich people, or royalty. They often have to uphold family traditions or have arranged marriages. It’s not as common anymore but there are some people who have to give up what they want for the sake of others.”

“I see.” The alien nodded. “Then you, your interest is in bugs. Why is that?”

Kyungsoo was silent for a moment as he played with the beetle. “Most kids,” He started as he let the beetle go. “Have the courage to play with bugs when they’re young. They’ll pick up worms or daddy long legs and show them off. I guess I never grew out of that phase.”

The alien chose silence; whether he understood Kyungsoo’s words was uncertain but he, instead, sunk his head back into Kyungsoo’s phone. 

Kyungsoo laid on the ground, looking up at the stars and watching as they twinkled in the summer night. He was lost in his thoughts as he stared up, not knowing just how much time was passing by. But by the time he started to become self-aware again his back hurt and butt was numb so he got up slowly to not aggravate his headache.

“Alright, well I’m going to go get a couple lightning bugs again. So, if you’ll excuse me.” The pale man wiped his rear and the back of his legs of dirt and went to go look for more small jars again. 

However, as he rummaged for a few jars, a lightning bug had gone ahead and landed on the side of his tent, right in front of his face. His excitement grew and caused him to quickly search for a jar. But just as he was about to pull it out, something sharp had flown in front of his nose and stabbed the beetle right in its thorax. Kyungsoo quickly looked at the alien, noticing as he was bringing a hand back.

“Did you.. Did you just do that?!” Kyungsoo nearly yelled at him.

“Yes. It was glowing.”

“I needed it for my research!” Kyungsoo stomped a foot. “This is the second time. Second! Time. Why did you do that?!”

“Because it resembled these insects on my home planet with similar features. They are much larger, but their stomachs have a hole that spits a flammable luminescent liquid when disturbed. They are dangerous.”

“These are not them! Ughhhh!” As cool as those sounded he was just too frustrated to want to ask more. Instead, he found his jars and stormed off into the woods with a small flashlight. 

 

Not half an hour later did Kyungsoo return to find the alien in the same spot he had left him, still rummaging through his phone.

“You have returned. I want to apologize for distressing you. It was not my intention—”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine. I’m surprised you’re still here though.”

“I have nowhere else to go.”

“That was rhetorical.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes as he placed his jars of lightning bugs in his book bag.

“What do you plan on doing with those?” The alien asked as he watched the latter.

“Well, it’s kind of fucked up. But I’m going to wait for them to die, they’ll either starve or suffocate.” 

“And this will promote your research?”

“Yup.” There was an indifference to Kyungsoo’s voice.

“You are still displeased with me.” Nothing seemed to have changed in his tone though.

“No, I’m just.. I’m tired and cranky. It’s been a long hour.” Kyungsoo sat himself in front of the fire and held his head. He noticed that fresh wood had been placed in the fire. As he noticed this he looked up at the stranger, watching as his eyes searched back and forth through whatever he was looking at on the phone. He might have stared for a bit too long because it caught the attention of the white-haired alien. They made eye contact for a moment and it caused Kyungsoo to look away, ashamed and embarrassed. “Look.” He started. “I know I said I didn’t want to know your name but.. What is it?” 

“Moka’inim Akimai’ith.”

“M-Moca.. Mokainikak?? Yeah, huh, you got a nickname? Something shorter??”

“Kai.”

“Yeah.. Kai…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a reason religion is mentioned here, I wasn't trying to be offensive
> 
> University of Halifax does not exist
> 
> The water bottle thing on smartphones is a real thing, usually it works best with Dasani water bottles and you can use it to move your apps around. Idk how I found it out, but it just happens (i have an iphone, idk if it works with others)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed again! Thank you for reading <3


	3. But he was very high maintenance

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Sleeping arrangements had been made. The alien-elf slept inside the tent beside Kyungsoo to make sure he was not bit by any bug. A fatal reaction worried them if they could not treat it in time. Kai had explained two rather very fatal instances where his people had been bitten by alien insecta; one exploded and the other died a very slow, agonizing death by melting from the inside out. It was brutal and Kyungsoo nearly wanted to cry at the thought of having goopy elf-alien blood on his hands.

But after having finally slept it was late into the night, close to four in the morning, Kyungsoo had stirred to life (after a rather interesting dream) to use the bathroom. The dream consisted of him being on a table and dissected by aliens in a room full of flies. The only catch was that there were no aliens. Instead, they were humans who were dressed in black suits and black sunglasses. It was a little frightening to be honest, but Kyungsoo could brush the dream off easily and found his way outside the tent to take a leak. He made sure to walk some distance away with a flashlight in hand to do his business. After conversing with Kai for most of the night he learned that Kai had enhanced hearing, a trait that meant his peaceful poops would have to go further into the woods. So, he traveled far out to find a tree to pee on and to not be heard or smelled by Kai later.

He yawned most unabashedly as he released and mistook a noise he thought he heard. But as he relaxed his face and finished up, he could not help but notice there were more sounds of what sounded like barking dogs. He turned his head and saw in the distance flashing lights waving while the voices of people yelled out to one another. Some of them looked like the headlights of cars bumping through the forest terrain, others looked like hand-held flashlights. Kyungsoo quickly zipped his pants up and made his way back to the camp. He was very confused as to what the problem was, but he was more worried about the fact that if they got any closer he would never get any sleep with the dogs. But the closer he got to camp the more he thought about it. Various cars, yelling voices and dogs? It was probably a search party. A child or someone might have been lost. Maybe a murderer was on the loose? Once he entered the camp and found the burnt embers of his fire still barely glowing he started to hear a distant thundering noise. It was repeated and pulsed like a heartbeat. The closer the sound came the more he realized it was, in fact, the thumping sound of helicopter pillars. Kyungsoo’s mind started to race again as he made for the tent. Maybe it was a _serious_ search party. _Or_. He thought suddenly, they were looking for Kai? His power or transportation somehow seemed to have stopped time completely and it was probably possible that it disturbed some magnetic fields or something and made government hardware go haywire. It made sense to him even if he could not necessarily get it all out.

As Kyungsoo entered his dark tent he could not help but notice the lack of another body. Kai was missing. He scrambled out and called to the forest for Kai. The sound of the helicopter getting louder as he did so.

“Kai! Kaaaai!” Kyungsoo whisper-yelled loud enough so that it would not be too hard to hear.

But as he searched for the man in the little light he had been provided, a small acorn had bopped him on the head.

“What the…” Kyungsoo quickly held the spot and looked up, only to find a glimmer of white amongst the trees.

“You, did you send for those?” Kai’s voice came from up top.

“What? No!” The sound of the helicopter gained closer and closer, the light of a spotlight shining off in the distance.

“What are they?”

“Probably the fucking FBI here to investigate whatever disturbance you caused, and I’m not about to get in trouble for your mess.” The helicopter seemed like it would appear any moment with how loud it was, Kyungsoo quickly moved away from the opening in the trees, careful to not get caught in the helicopter light. He hid in a shrub, small and low to the ground, not caring about what might get stuck or bite him.

The helicopter strode by, the spotlight shining brightly all over the camp but moving on ahead.

When the coast seemed clear Kyungsoo shot out and ran for his items.

Kai jumped down from the tree and watched as Kyungsoo scurried.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting out of here. Last thing I need is to have my stuff confiscated because you touched it or something. So, you can either join me and run, or fend for yourself.” He stood up with his bag slung over his shoulder, filled with the most important pieces. It would take too long to pack the tent and cooler and all the other items too big for him. “Honestly, you could use all the help you can get. This is a foreign world to you. Might as well stick to an ambassador.”

Kai bore no immediate expression but his mind was going, searching for just the right answer.

“Fine.”

Kyungsoo took that as all he needed and walked on, hurriedly in a direction opposite from the helicopter and barking dogs.

“Where will you go?”

“The camp grounds. There’s a lot of people in that area so we can lose any scent we have there, but we’ll have to keep going if we want to get to my car and essentially back to my apartment.”

“Very well. What are these _dogs_?” He emphasized the dog as he hurried on. Scrapping against and trailing through thorn bushes and branches.

“They’re animals. They have excellent hearing and smell. Not as intelligent as humans but they have qualities that make them kinder and better. They’re really great at things, we usually keep them as pets, but most places see them as part of the family.”

“Then why do they chase people?”

“Well, they usually get brought out because humans don’t know what they’re looking for. And clearly, we can’t sniff out a person or item like a dog can because their senses are so acute.”

“The dogs sound like great beings. I would very much enjoy meeting one, one day.”

“One day, if we can get out of this.” Kyungsoo chided. He too liked dogs very much, and in fact, hoped to get one of his own at some point. But if the world was going to end, what would be the point anymore?

Not long after the two had scaled a good portion of the forest trail away from the helicopter did they find the campgrounds. Kyungsoo was mildly surprised with his ability to navigate in the dark and Kai was fascinated by the RV’s, camper’s and various looking tents. Most people were asleep, others had been lounging out with a beer and stargazing. Relatively peaceful, save the mosquito’s and a group of college students who were blasting music on another end and drinking alcohol. Kyungsoo thought they would be a great spot to lose a scent, and much to his disgust he was right. They were ripe with alcohol and barf, obnoxious and sweaty. It interested Kai but ultimately, he preferred to not stick around; the smell was not pleasant to him and the behavior was animalistic. They did not spend a long time and only mocked about long enough to mix up smells, eventually they quickly went on their way to the parking lot.

His car was small and gray, a slight tint of green touching it but that was not at all visible in the moonlight. Kyungsoo pulled out his keys and unlocked his doors, now running for it at full speed. He hopped in and turned it on, hoping five days’ worth of no use would not hurt it too much. He was lucky that it seemed fine. Kai, however, did not follow and get in the car. Instead he stood just in front of the hood on the gravel parking lot and inspected the contraption. Kyungsoo, annoyed by his reaction, leaned over and opened the passenger door.

“Get in!”

This jolted Kai and caused him to scurry into the car. He ducked his head, gave a few sniffs and slowly allowed his body into the metal car. He stepped on the seat and proceeded to squat in the car. Kyungsoo watched in astonishment, his mouth slightly agape at how ridiculous the situation was.

“Sit.” Kyungsoo slowly instructed.

Kai sank his butt down so that his knees stayed up and feet flat on the seat.

“Feet down.”

Kai shook his head.

“Down.” Kyungsoo threatened as he pointed to his legs. The man looked wonky and uncomfortable with how tall he was.

Kai slowly let his feet sink down, one after the other and jolting when the crinkle of plastic bottles scared him. Kyungsoo made a mental note about the head shake Kai had given, apparently shaking your head also meant no to him. A peculiar thing for an alien.

“You’re fine. It’s just empty water bottles. Put your seatbelt on.” He brought his own around and showed how to click it. Kai, of course, followed easily.

“What is this restriction?”

“It’ll help keep us from dying if we crash.” He spoke as he checked his mirrors and put the car in reverse.

“Are crashes common in these?”

“Common enough for safety precautions. Don’t worry, I’ll try to get you around as safe as possible.”

Kai did not respond and instead held tightly onto anything he could get his hands on as Kyungsoo drove off. The deep breathing of the elf next to him was almost humorous as they drove through the forest. Especially the way his body jerked when Kyungsoo eventually made the elf’s window roll down. The jingle of earrings and hair pieces was quite apparent.

The ride had been silent for the most part, half an hour of gasps and intense stares of the passenger. Kai did not ask questions, but he _did_ panic when he thought someone would hit the car. The ride was mostly smooth, not many people driving on the roads of Halifax so early in the morning. And all Kyungsoo wanted to do was drink hot coco and lay down in his comfy bed. Which was funny, because it was in the middle of the summer, yet he felt like comforting himself with hot coco. Sleeping on the forest ground played a number on his body (and it was only three days he had been there for, another five he would have had to stay).

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Wanna stop and get food?”

“Is that wise?”

“Yeah, I think we lost them. Then again, I don’t even think they knew to look for us in the first place. _If_ they were after us.”

“Where would we go for food?”

“McDonalds. That’s usually open at this hour.”

֍  ҉  ֎

“So uh.. You guys just getting back, or going to ComicCon? Or some convention?” The cashier asked as they stared at the two customers.

The McDonald’s was vacant, only a worker in the dining area had been scrubbing down tables as another was working in the back, preparing the odd pair’s order. The white noise of machines working, and the clatter of paper being rustled made the scene all too terribly awkward.

“Uh, yeah. There’s uh.. thing..” Kyungsoo said meekly as he turned slowly to gaze at Kai. There the alien stood, tall and overbearing, his face stern with a deadpan and brows furrowed in a sort of angry look.

“Perfect weather for that kind of outfit.” The cashier said, they were ridden in rosacea and lanky with greasy hair. But their attraction to the tall, dark and handsome alien was quite apparent. Not everyday you get to see eye candy at four in the morning.

Kyungsoo grimaced at the cashier and watched as the cook walked over with a bag full of their food. The woman’s eyes who brought the food never left the alien. It was true that he stuck out like a sore thumb and what was even more true was that he was devilishly good looking. It made Kyungsoo all the more upset.

“So uh, you come here often?” The cashier casually dropped. It was so casual that Kyungsoo totally would have missed the fact that the cashier was hitting on Kai, but his brain was quick enough to catch it, even if he _was_ dead tired. He rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag of food, snatched the bottles of water and orange juice and stormed out of the restaurant with Kai following closely behind.

Once they were in the car, Kyungsoo spoke, “You’ve been on Earth for how long now and in the first human interaction you have had people ogling over you.”

“No, my first human interaction, I’m pretty sure, you had very negative feelings for me.”

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to retaliate but quickly closed it when he realized that the first human interaction was with himself. He shook his head and drove off for his apartment.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, the sun had just been showing the lightest color of blue sky. Kyungsoo looked defeated, his dark circles quite prominent. He turned the car off and trudged out with the bag of food in hand and keys curled into the other, he decided he would grab his camping bag later. He walked on, straight to the front door of his apartment complex and to the second floor in which his lived. Kai followed a bit further behind, listening and jerking his head back every time he would pass a door to someone else’s home.

Kyungsoo opened his door with a bit of struggle, it needed an extra push to open. But once his apartment had been revealed, the smell of stale air and must hit their noses.

“Oh, mind the smell. I haven’t been home for a while. Though I told Amy to open the windows when she’s over…”

“I am alright.”

The walls were stark white, a stain here and there from previous owners, the carpets a cream color filled with the stench of years of service. The kitchen was to the right, a wall separating it from the rest of the apartment, a small living room area behind it and then an even smaller hallway for a bathroom and master bedroom. There was little furniture, a cream sofa, a small coffee table, and floor lamp. There had been a little dining table across the kitchen, a dark color to match the rest of the furniture.

“Heddy?” Kyungsoo called out and proceeded to make a clicking noise with his tongue.

As Kyungsoo disappeared into his room (after placing the food on the table) Kai stayed stagnant in the room, taking in his surroundings. He was cautious, so very cautious.

But as he stepped further into the room, a small black thing began to pace towards him, carefully and smoothly on four legs. Kai immediately retreated, backing up so fast that he found his back smashed against the front door.

“What is this devilry?!” He pulled out a knife and held it out threateningly.

Kyungsoo went speeding back into the living room, looking to see what was wrong.

He assessed the situation quickly and made eye contact with the small black cat that was stalking towards Kai.

“Heddy.” Kyungsoo sighed out. “Get over here, come say hi to me first.” He got on his knees and beckoned for the feline to approach. The cat immediately responded with a mew and trotted quickly over to her owner. “Put that away, she won’t hurt you.” Kyungsoo snapped at Kai.

Kai was confused for a moment as he watched the feline nuzzle her head on Kyungsoo’s hand and walked all over his lap.

“What is it?”

“This is my pet cat, Hedwig. But I call her Heddy. So that way there’s not too much similarity to the owl.”

Kai seemed confused by that statement.

“It’s nothing don’t worry about it.” Kyungsoo shook his head and then focused all his attention on his cat.

Kai slowly put his knife away, now further curious at what this creature was doing and wanting to pet it as Kyungsoo was. Kai walked over slowly, and quietly as to not disturb the two. He knelt once he was close enough, like Kyungsoo had been.

“Stick your hand out. Let her sniff you first.” Kyungsoo said softly.

Kai had sat on the ground like Kyungsoo and held his hand out. Kyungsoo watched closely as his cat turned away from him and to the being. She paused to let her nose sniff duly, her head jerking back slightly upon the initial contact. It made Kai jerk back as well, but once the initial shock was gone, the two of them let their connection happen. Heddy sniffed and found no qualm with the person in front of her. She nudged her tiny head under his large palm and begged for her ears to be rubbed. The feeling made Kai jump again, the soft warm feeling of her head was unusual.

“Gently.” Kyungsoo started with an even softer voice, he was very cautious of how he would act with his beloved cat. “Gently rub her head.”

Kai did as instructed, barely adding any pressure in the way he rubbed her head. Heddy seemed to love every bit of what was happening, she walked away to let his hand run down her back and pet her rear. A weird smile found its way on Kai’s face, nothing great and something barely noticeable, but Kyungsoo was watching closely. He watched as his lips twitched and found new ways to rub the cat.

“Heddy.” Kai let the name roll off his tongue. The cat let out a soft mew after her name was said. “I like this creature. She is docile.”

“Eh, she can be a bitch. And scratch up my walls. But, that’s in her nature,” Kyungsoo shrugged as he got up. When he turned away he smiled to himself, Kai seemed to be very gentle with his cat and he appreciated that. “Hey, you gonna sit and pet my cat all day or do you wanna eat something?”

Kyungsoo said as he began taking the food out of the bag. Kai seemed to take notice of this and followed quickly. They took their seats at the table, soon followed by Heddy who jumped onto the top. Kyungsoo had thrown two things at Kai across the table, one of hash brown and another plastic container of pancakes and bacon. Kyungsoo took no notice of what Kai did and began to eat his own egg, cheese and sausage on a biscuit. However, as soon as he took a bite, he looked up and saw as Kai brought the small package of hash brown to his mouth and bit into the paper.

“You don’t eat the wrapper.” Kyungsoo said much to his shock. He had leaned over and grabbed his own hash brown and bit into the golden part. “Like this.” He chewed and watched as Kai followed.

“That is a relief. This part was not very tasty.” He did exactly as instructed again and began to chew. “I like this taste. This is nice.”

“It doesn’t feel gritty?”

“No, why?”

“Because that is also potato.”

“Hm…” He looked at the hash brown. “Interesting.” He nodded and proceeded to eat the rest of it.

“Then you open this; like this,” he demonstrated opening the white foam box. Kai easily complied and opened his.

The two ate and made small conversation about the food. How it tasted, and how it was prepared and not very good for you. He almost felt bad that he had to give Kai such horrible food, but it was the best he could manage for such an early excavation.

After their breakfast/snack had been eaten, Kyungsoo looked even more defeated than usual. He just wanted to lie down on his bed and sleep for a while and hope that everything would just go away. Even so, they carried on and helped Kai into a shower. It was a bit humorous how Kai was afraid of everything, but also scary with not knowing if he would have a reaction to soaps and conditioners. And as Kai showered with the door open (he was too afraid of being attacked without knowing) Kyungsoo had found himself sleeping on his own couch.

But as half an hour passed by, Kai, not knowing how to put on his newly anointed clothes, began to walk around the house in full nude.

“Student.” Kai called out to the sleeping male. “Little Student.” He called louder from across the room.

Kyungsoo woke with a jolt, his heart racing, pounding against his chest as he had no clue of where he had been. The human looked up to see the tall figure standing in the hallway, staring for a significant amount of time. His eyes roaming the body in front of him all the way to the southern part until his cheeks burned and he quickly looked away.

“Oh, oh wow. Okay, nice. It would be real nice if you could have put on some clothes. Wow, whatthefuck.” He breathed.

“I was unsure of how to dress myself and needed your assistance.”

“Why didn’t you put a fucking towel on?!” Kyungsoo got up and scared his cat who he had not noticed was sleeping on his side.

“Does my natural state make you uncomfortable?”

“Like, kinda? Like I don’t care, we’re both dudes, apparently. But like, you’re huge man. You could poke someone’s eye out. Also, it’s crazy how similar we are, do you have three test—” he continued to mumble.

“Are you referencing my atenman?” He looked down to his groin.

“No! Yes, well, that too, you’re well strung. I meant your—no wait! Fuck this conversation, just, let’s put clothes on you!” Kyungsoo got up and waved his hands to dismiss everything that was happening and proceeded to show him how to put on the clothes. His cheeks were bright red and his prude was quite strong within him at the moment.

Of course, the clothes were rather snug on Kai, but they would suffice. Kyungsoo could not help but notice as he helped dress the man how he smelled. The way the shampoo and body wash melded with his natural clean scent seemed so insatiably good. Something he could not describe, something he had most definitely never smelled before.

The next step after dressing the male was to get his clothes into the wash and to make sure nothing would harm the clothes, it was a rather annoying process trying to cater to an alien. So, he set them for a quick and light wash in the machine and made quick work of removing any stains. The step after that was to go back to bed. Kyungsoo was so tired that as he returned from the laundromat across the street he crashed on his couch and laid there face down. Kai had been seated in front of the television, watching the channels diligently; scrolling through each channel with the remote, never staying long on one and switching right back to make sure he did not miss anything. Everything seemed quite amazing.

But as Kyungsoo drifted into sleep he could not help but notice how cute Kai seemed as he sat crisscross on his living room floor, reacting to all the different things he was watching. Slowly, but surely, Kyungsoo fell asleep.


	4. And he did not sleep

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Almost six hours later did Kyungsoo wake up with groggy eyes. He was comfortable and felt a warm buzz all over. The sleep had been nicely received on his end, finally, and his cat even situated herself back on him as he slept, all seemed right. The television was playing on low volume, the cooking channel to be exact. His phone had been on the floor beside his hanging hand, just where he thought he might have left it. Everything seemed normal, like he had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch with the TV going. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But as he sat up, he noticed the distinctive sound of his toilet flushing. He wondered just who it could have been.

Who came out was definitely not who he had been expecting, he half expected a tall man with dark skin and white hair to appear. But what he got was his best friend Amy. She had long blonde hair that curled closer to the bottom, her features plain and nose pointed. She wore a blue cardigan over a black shirt and light blue jean shorts, something he recognized in her style, easily.

“Amy..” He said with a grumble to his voice.

“Hey, you’re up.”

“Yeah, what’s up? What time is it?”

“It’s almost twelve.”

“Really?” He rubbed his eyes, wondering how he might have gotten back to his apartment. He could have sworn he was supposed to spend another couple days in the woods.

“Yeah, Kai said you had been sleeping for at least three hours.”

“Kai?” Kyungsoo froze and looked up, his face red from where he had been rubbing.

“Yeah, that cosplay fellow. Why didn’t you tell me you’d be back so early? I would have left the apartment to you.” Amy winked as she sat on the couch next to him.

“I’m sorry, what were you just implying.”

“I’m implying that I knew you’d fall to the dark side soon enough.”

Kyungsoo grimaced at that, just because he had an appreciation for the finer things in life didn’t mean he wanted to fuck anybody who crossed his path.

“So it wasn’t a dream…” Kyungsoo stood up.

“What—”

“Where is he?”

“He was tired, so I made him sleep on your bed. You were sleeping on the couch, so I put him there.”

Kyungsoo had walked over to his bedroom, the door left open. There he found Kai laid on his full-sized bed, covered in his sheets and faced away. His white hair sprawled out mostly on the pillows.

Kyungsoo bore an expression even he could not figure out.

“What happened?”

Kyungsoo tore himself away from the sight in his room and looked at Amy. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you back, where’d he come from? What the fuck happened? And what the fuck is on his arm? It looks like a bomb.” Heddy had found herself on Amy’s lap, her purrs were soft and gentle as she settled in the human’s lap.

Kyungsoo looked at the floor, thinking for a moment before going over to her and talking.

“You’re not going to believe me if I tell you..” Kyungsoo whispered.

“Just tell me.” Amy insisted.

Kyungsoo sighed, “I don’t… I don’t even know what happened to be honest. It just like… Ugh..” He plopped himself next to Amy and sighed into his hands.

“You can tell me, I know how you are and how.. _Reserved_ you are, but it’s okay. You can really tell me, anything, you can always tell me anything. You know I’m the last person to judge you if you brought him home for the night.”

“No! Oh my god, no it’s not like that at all. It’s so far from that.”

“Then what is it?”

Kyungsoo looked up at Amy, his eyes searching for the right things to say _. If_ he should say them at all. If maybe he was actually crazy and imagined it all.

“He’s an alien.”

For a split second, Amy’s face nearly burst into a laugh, but then something in Kyungsoo’s voice shook her down as she thought about it. She knew Kyungsoo fairly well, and he was _not_ a bullshit kind of guy. She knew that he would not so easily lie, or joke for that matter, about something like that.

“No, you’re joking.” She said just to make sure.

Kyungsoo stared her down, shaking his head slowly. No lie left his dark eyes.

“What the fuck do you mean? How do you know for sure?”

“Because I watched him appear in front of me like it was nothing. He attacked me and spoke a language I’d never heard before and casually started speaking English as if he had been speaking it his whole life. He literally had no idea of what he was doing here, he said his device broke and brought him to earth by accident because we’re not a part of this galactic protocol thing that controls like half the universe and like I don’t even know… He appeared and disappeared in front of me twice, literally, _twice_ Amy. In the click of a button, he was gone in a cloud of white smoke and then he just fucking appeared.”

“What do you mean disappeared and appeared?”

“I don’t fucking know Amy, he just does it.” Kyungsoo slumped over and let his face fall into his hands.

“When did this all happen?

“Last night. Then I think we were being chased by the CSIS or something, so we ran from the forest and made a run for home.” His voice got lower. “Honestly, I don’t think I can be here for long. If someone was actually after us, who knows how long it will be before they trail us here.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, calm down. Who said that it would be a bad thing if they found you?”

“I don’t know! You don’t ever hear anything about the government getting in contact with extraterrestrials. That’s because they want to keep it as quiet as possible. That means I’ll probably have to start my life all over again since I’m involved with him now. And you, you could be in danger too. Who knows what could happen.”

“Soo, nothing’s going to happen—”

“I shouldn’t have run away last night. I should have stayed, let the government question him, _me_ and take my things—”

“Kyungsoo—”

“I’m fucked, I’m royally fucked. There’s no getting out of this alive.”

“Kyungsoo!” Amy raised her voice and placed her hands on the male’s shoulders. “For goodness sake, just calm down! You’re worse than Raj on her period for fucks sake.” Her face had gone red with the frustration she ensued while trying to calm the human next to her.

But as she relaxed Kyungsoo and herself, she noticed a being appear in the hallway.

“K-Kai!” Amy said nervously. Kyungsoo quickly whipped his head around to meet him.

“It seemed as if there were distressed voices. I came to allay them. I seem to be the base of the conversation.” Kai bore no expression, he was deadpan again, serious.

“No no, it’s fine.” Amy waved her hand. “Did you sleep well?”

“As well as I can expect.” Kai nodded.

“Mm.” Amy nodded back with a slight smile, it was not until later did she realize that his words may have been twisted with an underlying meaning.

“How long did you sleep for?” Kyungsoo asked in a soft voice, the whole situation still seemed surreal.

“Not long I imagine. My body is not accustomed to your concept of time just yet.”

“Well how much sleep do you need?”

“As much as possible. Our bodies when traveling rely heavily on rest and nutrition.” He stared the male down as he spoke.

“Why don’t you go back to sleep? We’ll be quiet—”

“Wait one fuckin minute,” Amy snapped, interrupting Kyungsoo in the process. “Prove to me right now that you’re an alien.”

Kyungsoo smacked her arm. “You can’t just say that!” He whisper-yelled.

“Fuck off, I wanna know that you’re not actually crazy. Do something. Do something humans don’t do.”

“I must apologize, but there are a number of things that I do not know about the human race. But I do know this.” Kai had sat down in the middle of the floor and closed his eyes. Within a second, Heddy had raced from Amy’s lap and jumped onto his back.

Both Kyungsoo and Amy looked at one another.

“Okay, the cat jumped on your back. Big deal.” Amy said as a matter of fact.

“You misunderstand. I have made a connection with Hedwig and called upon her.”

“You mean like telepathy?” Kyungsoo asked with a slight glimmer in his eyes.

“If that is what you wish to call it.” He nodded as he let his hand run down the cat’s body as she crawled on him.

“No, no, no, no, that doesn’t prove jack shit. Do something else.”

Kai nodded and stood up, “Forgive me, my body is not accustomed to this world and therefore cannot manipulate the elements as easily here.”

“Figures.” Amy rolled her eyes.

Kai then stood up and placed a hand over the lamp in the corner of the room. He stood there, his eyebrows twitching as he seemed to try and persuade his body to do something. The lightbulb flickered, it had been on, and looked like it had surged slightly. Once the bulb had done that, Kai released himself and breathed out heavily. “I again apologize. My body cannot work as usual.”

“So what? You have magical powers that can manipulate elements?”

“In terms of magic, no. My people’s bodies have evolved to be able to release an excessive amount of energy and create friction. Thus, causing light, fire or explosions. There is an art completely dedicated to it on my world. It is very beautiful when done correctly. As for the ‘magic’ you seek, that comes in another form.”

Amy shut her mouth, she seemed like she had a smug remark to say but quickly threw it away.

“What magic do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked as he watched Kai, his hair looked smooth and fluffy now that all the beads and chains in his ears had been removed.

“Elethal, kim.” Kai spoke such beautiful words like smooth, clear water. But as he said them he raised his hand and a bright light began to form there, once the mass was completed he threw it up and watched as it exploded into a thousand little flutters of golden and red light. Like small butterfly-like creatures were flitting around.

“You’re a fuckin’ alien.” Amy said breathlessly. Kyungsoo’s eyes seemed to glow.

“How did you do that? What is it made of?” Kyungsoo sat up and let his hands reach out to the small flecks. As they kissed his skin he felt the tingling warmth that radiated, it was mirth, a good comforting happiness that lightly washed over him.

As the two humans admired the dissipating light, Kai walked over to Kyungsoo and knelt in front of him. Amy retracted into the couch, like she was afraid.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Amy asked in a panic.

Kai did not respond and kept his gaze strong on Kyungsoo.

“May I touch you?” Kai asked in a soft tone.

Kyungsoo found no malice in his eyes and nodded in response.

Kai then raised a little, his face gathering closer and closer to Kyungsoo’s. The human wanted to hide his racing heart as the gorgeous man neared him. He leaned back, trying to avoid whatever contact was about to happen. It sure seemed like a kiss was about to ensue. Kyungsoo’s cheeks were red and so were Amy’s. In fact, she was so surprised about what was going to happen that she gasped as Kai raised his hands and stopped Kyungsoo from moving away from him. He held Kyungsoo’s head gently and closed the space. But what shocked everyone was how Kai, instead, tilted Kyungsoo’s head up and nearly pressed his lips on the human’s neck. He whispered something warm there, something in his natural tongue and it tickled all kinds of fuzzy warmth on him. Then he rubbed a thumb over the cut he left when they first met. Kai pulled away and stood to his feet. Kyungsoo quickly felt his neck, to see what had happened. When he noticed the cut had disappeared he looked up at Kai.

“How… How…?” Kyungsoo stuttered.

“These are gifts from our god. In the early days of my people, they lived in times of war, and turmoil. They sought the power of gods to help them and thus were granted simple abilities as such… Those sparkles are just a trick, one that embodies the energy inside of me and mixes with the power of our god to create a light that radiates happiness. The incantation calls upon the powers and allows us to use these abilities. It is our natural being to call upon this ‘magic’.”

“But that can’t be real. Is that a myth?” Amy asked, referencing the gods.

“It is more real than what your and my eyes can see.” Kai stared her down with a piercing gaze.

“But how do you _know_? Faith? That can’t—” Kyungsoo hit Amy in the stomach. She was being rather rude about the subject. She would not dare do that to a human, so why should Kai be any different?

“Because I have met him.” Kai responded.

A silence grew over the two humans, a realization of something they were not sure they were prepared for.

“Met who?” Kyungsoo finally asked.

“Our one great lord. Xanin.” Kai said.

There had been another silence, this time Kyungsoo and Amy both looked at one another.

“So, like what? How did you meet him? In your dreams? In person? How is that possible?” Amy asked.

“I met him both physically and metaphysically.”

“What does that even mean?” She responded, she was feeling a little heated.

“I apologize, did I misuse the word metaphysically?”

“What? No, no. Just explain how you met him.”

“He called out to me, sending messages for me to meet him. So, I sought him out and met him.”

“What did he want you for?” Kyungsoo asked this time

“That—”

Suddenly, a knock came from the front door. Everyone froze and looked at the door, waiting to see what would happen. Kai quickly looked at Kyungsoo, a slight panic to his usual stoic eyes. The knock came again when nothing happened.

“Amy! Open up, I wanna come in!” A woman’s voice suddenly yelled from the front door.

Everyone in the room seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s just Raj.” Amy said under her breath as Kyungsoo ran for the door.

Kyungsoo opened the door quickly, looking every which way to check if there had been anyone else but Raj.

“Soo!” Raj said excitedly, her big brown eyes lighting up in mirth. “What are you—”

“Come in,” he grabbed her hand quickly and yanked her into the apartment.

“What the—” Raj squeaked as her long dark brown locks swayed in the air. It seemed to be all anyone saw of her as she disappeared into the apartment.

“Kyungsoo what’s going on?” She had stopped Kyungsoo and held onto his forearms, quickly turning on her alert mode after she noticed his distress.

“Raj!” Amy suddenly yelled from the couch. It almost made her smile to see her girlfriend, but she quickly caught the sight of piercing white hair and dark skin sitting in front of the coffee table.

“Raj, uh.. Shit.” Kyungsoo tried to pull her over to his couch. “Sit down, and meet.. Mmnt-mm-Kai!” Kyungsoo seemed to have a difficult time figuring out what to call him.

“Hi… Kai..?” Raj looked up at Kyungsoo, then back to Amy.

“Hello.” Kai slightly bowed his head then waved his hand in a rather robotic fashion. It was one of the greeting gestures he noticed most humans did.

Raj smiled awkwardly at the white haired being. “Wh-Why are you back so soon Soo? I thought you’d be gone for at least a couple more days.”

“I was supposed to, but it was cut short.”

“Why? What happened?” She seemed concerned.

Kyungsoo then looked down at Kai, his face unwilling to go over it again.

Raj followed Kyungsoo’s eye line and met with the piercing golden eyes of the stranger.

“Alright, just… Hear me out.”

֍  ҉  ֎

You can imagine that the rest of their night was not filled with Kai performing magic tricks and telling grand stories of the universe, but rather of pizza and google searches. There was still the important subject of Kai’s wrist device. His calus, as he called it, was dying out. Much like the way a battery powers a car, his of the sort was running low on juice. What the four of them spent the rest of the night doing was help Kai google for possible energy resources that would be powerful enough to switch out his old one. It was the focus of attention when he pulled out a small white crystal from his device and presented it to the three humans. It looked as if it had been pulled from a geode without any finer cutting. Even still, the gem was beautiful, yet it brought about a terrible feeling of greed as the humans gazed upon it. Thankfully Kai did not keep it out for long and placed it back into its holster. After that he told them how a crystal the size of Kyungsoo’s head produced enough energy to power his home city for about a hundred earth years. The crystals are a rare commodity on his home planet but produce some of the finest energy resources known to the universe. Which made the google searches in vain, no such crystals existed on earth like that. Things like that only existed in science fiction or fantasy stories. So, they turned to other possibilities.

“You’re gonna need the dark web if you wanna search stuff like that.” Amy chided across the table from Kyungsoo, who had just suggested nuclear fission. Kai had just retracted his arm from Amy’s shoulder; having asked politely earlier if he could make a connection with her to get an even further understanding of the English language. Amy was the only native English speaker, Raj was a foreign exchange student like Kyungsoo.

“You don’t know that, maybe there’s some TIME magazine or NASA post about nuclear power being contained in small things. Or anti-matter??” Raj added

“Yeah, and if things like that do exist there’s no way the government would allow posts about them. That’s why you have to dark web that shit.” Amy raised her voice, she was feeling certain about her suggestion.

“Absolutely not. Not on my laptop, hell no. I’m in trouble enough with the CSIS, Secret Service, CIA, FBI _whatever_ … probably. Last thing I need is some hacking asshole to get a hold of my laptop and take everything I own.”

“Well how else do you expect Kai to get home—?” Amy asked as she raised a brow.

“Everything you own is kept on this device?” Kai chimed in with the most innocent of questions as he looked at the laptop, lifting it up and putting his eye close to the USB ports. He really did not give the humans enough credit for their technology.

During their bickering, the doorbell had rung. Raj took that as her opportunity to get the door and pay for pizza. Which Kai wasn’t much of a fan of. The grease did not agree with his stomach and the tomato sauce was too bitter. Though, he really did enough the cheese, he just wished it didn’t make everything so oily.

After concluding the pizza date and google searches, they decided that even nuclear fission was not strong enough to power his calus (Amy had gone through many in depth conversations about it, she was now going for her master’s in Nuclear Engineering at the university the three of them studied at, so she knew a thing or two.) It was a heartbreaking moment for the girls to watch Kai seem so defeated, even Kyungsoo felt bad when what looked like a frown creased his features. To that Kyungsoo took his laptop away and turned his TV on to play some Netflix documentaries. Kai took great interest in them and appreciated that they were trying to make him feel better. But it was late in the night and the girls had to get up early for work, so they left (close to one in the morning) with heavy hearts and bid them a goodnight.

Kyungsoo was relieved when they finally left, that meant he could also go to bed. Spending a whole day with the girls and trying to talk to Kai was too much on his head. Just when he thought high school was the most tiring time of his life he was dead wrong. Korean private schools were monsters, he remembered the countless nights staying up and studying until the next school day. Those were terrible. But _this_ , this was also exhausting even though he had gotten a few hours of sleep! All in just a full day. That was when Kyungsoo clocked out, limply gave Kai a comfortable space to sleep on the couch and smashed his face into his own full-sized bed.

The next morning rolled by and Kyungsoo did not feel good. It was not a comfy sleep where he felt relaxed all over, in fact, he had a slight headache lingering in the front of his head and his neck was sore. He felt hot and greasy wrapped in his blanket and quite honestly, he wanted to fall back asleep. But as he looked at the time he groaned to see that it was nearly noon, meaning he wasted all his morning; on _bad_ sleep for that matter.

To that, Kyungsoo checked his messages and responded dully on his phone. He struggled getting out of his bed when his body nearly ached for more sleep and wrapped himself as a cocoon in his comforter. Despite the uncomfortable layer of grease on his body, the A/C was blaring rather fiercely so he needed the extra protection.

He travelled in a begrudging manner to his door and stood just outside the hallway entrance, staring at Kai who had been sleeping on the couch. A single hand was tucked under his cheek on the pillow and his legs were curled in to make the fetal position. Kyungsoo was truly getting baffled by all the similarities that humans had in common with this alien. Though, what he did notice as odd was the fact Kai did not use a blanket, it was neatly folded at the foot of the couch. It was particularly cold that morning too. Heddy poked her head out from behind the living room window’s blinds, peeking at who had just awoken. The noise of the blinds made Kai’s eyes shoot open, to which Kyungsoo blushed furiously and averted his eyes.

“Uh, ehm,” He cleared his throat. “Uh sorry, I didn’t mean to just stare while you were sleeping.”

“That is alright, it wasn’t for a very long time.”

“Oh, were you up? Did you sleep okay?”

“As well as can be expected.” Kai sat up straight on the couch now, much like a robot.

“Why do you say it like that? You make it sound like you didn’t sleep well. It’s fine, you can tell me the truth. I mean whether you sleep or not is your problem, not mine.” Kyungsoo had sauntered over to Heddy to greet her with her morning head rubs.

“You will not be offended with what I have to say?”

“There’s a great chance I won’t be.” Kyungsoo grimaced in a rather rude way, he was glad he was face away from the alien.

“I’ll apologize for my apprehension then. There are some races that find it rude if you do not sleep when offered such accommodations. It is quite rude for Allve to not sleep while as a guest in another’s home. We treasure sleep greatly, especially since our sun is extremely hot. We have a white sun, rather than your yellow. Our sun takes up a lot of our energy, we tire easily on days of labor outside. However, we make the acceptations for outsiders. We try our best to accommodate for all species, it is uncomfortable to sleep on a new planet for the first couple of days, even for one who is so evolved.”

“Ah.. that sucks.” Kyungsoo scrunched his nose up at that, of course it was a fascinating thing to learn, but also weird. There’s probably a huge culture shock and he really forgot to take all that into consideration for the poor alien. Despite barely showing any emotion at all, it didn’t stop the fact that Kai was probably uncomfortable most of the time. To that, Kyungsoo let his fingers slide the blinds to the side and take a gander at the outside world, nothing too out of the ordinary just a few cars gone and few squirrels skulking about. “That’s really… different. Most people try their best to make sleepovers as comfy as possible, and if you sleep, you sleep, if you don’t? You don’t.” Kyungsoo shrugged. “So I’m assuming you didn’t sleep?”

“Correct. It may take me a day or two more before I can become comfortable enough.”

“Alright, alright. That’s fine. If there’s anything I can do lemme know. It would suck if you didn’t get enough sleep. I know I get cranky when I don’t sleep enough, or _well_ enough.”

“Did you sleep well then?” Kai asked as his eyes kept a firm stare on the smaller.

“Ehhh…. Not really, but I’ll try to be good today.” He chuckled and scuttled his way to the kitchen to grab two bowls and fill them with cereal. “Want something to eat?”

“Please.” Kai stood up and immediately offered to help.

Amid sitting across from one another, Kyungsoo now half wrapped in his comforter and eating a bowl of fruit loops, breaks their silence, “We’re gonna go clothes shopping today.”

“What for?”

“You. I’m sure you’ll have to spend a little while longer before you find a proper energy source for your wrist bubble thing.” Kai tilted his head at the mention of _bubble thing_. “So I figured we could get a few items of clothes for you, if we find any that fit.” He grumbled the last part, knowing that it would not be an easy task to fit his overly large physique.

“Thank you, I appreciate this.”

“Yeah. It would be nice to make you look like a human, so I can take you grocery shopping. In case you see something that you think you can eat. I feel bad that I can’t feed you things you like.”

“Everything you have done for me is more than enough. Do not worry so much about that. I will eat anything and everything that you give me. I especially like milk, supply enough of that and I will be content.” A curt smile placed on Kai’s lips and vanished almost as quickly as he made it.

Kyungsoo snickered with petty laugh, that kind of annoyed him. He wondered if that was a spoiled prince talking or the cultural difference in species speaking.


	5. Yet he was eager to learn

[x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNNjf7tZEVM&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym&index=3&t=0s) \- something to listen to

֍  ҉  ֎

The mall was probably the worst idea Kyungsoo had had since his meeting with Kai. Not only was he still a bit grouchy from poor sleep, but his means in trying to contain everything that Kai was, was, well, terrible. They left Kai dressed in his glorious white garb, which smelt heavenly of detergent, since it was the only thing that fit his abnormally large body. Kyungsoo was prepared to shoo anyone off who asked questions, and simply state that he was a cosplayer. Kai was also prepared to give a similar speech. But instead, people did not go up to them, rather, they stared profusely and filmed him on their smart phones. Girls giggled as they walked by, couples snickered, guys hollered, and parents rolled their eyes. The attention was far from what Kyungsoo wanted, so he tried his best to push the alien along and keep him from staring or asking too many questions.

Kyungsoo should have been prepared for the unending questions the moment they stepped into the car with Kai. What he did not expect were the ones about buildings and how humans lived in them. It had to do with the difference with his people, how almost no building had closed walls. They were quite literally just elaborate tents or pavilions. Weather was prevented from destroying homes by magical forcefields or, quite literally, cloth overhangs that would open out and act as umbrellas. Fascinating, really, but Kyungsoo would be mentally drained having to answer so many questions later that day.

Once they were inside, Kyungsoo needed to find his way to Starbucks and grab a well-deserved latte. So, they quickly walked over to the center of the mall were a rather elaborate fountain gushed water from its sides and a few small spouts in the center. It was shaped in a rectangle and produced a few aquatic plants, it was aesthetically pleasing to Kai’s eyes. So as Kyungsoo ordered and waited for his coffee, Kai had wondered not too far and gazed upon the fountain. He saw various people throwing a coin in and walk away, it intrigued him, but what intrigued him the most was the group of tween boys who had jumped into the water and grabbed fists full of coins at the bottom. What he did _not_ see was the boys’ mothers come over and drag them away by their ears, so Kai followed easily in their example.

When Kyungsoo received his coffee, he panicked to see that Kai was further from his sight than he thought. He ran around the coffee stall and spotted the alien clad in white bent over in the fountain with his sleeves rolled up; now fishing for coins. Kyungsoo gasped the moment he saw him and rushed over to beckon him away and out of the water, not caring for the stares in the slightest. What _did_ bother him, though, were the two security guards headed in their direction. So Kyungsoo reached over and pulled Kai out the moment he was close enough, pulling him along into the crowds of people and losing them in the stores. Kyungsoo had been awake for barely an hour and already he was almost kicked out of the mall.

With those antics behind them, Kyungsoo finally led them around to find him the right fitting clothes, only to find that everything was way over priced and barely able to fit. The only item they could find was a black shirt with an even blacker design of a dragon fly on the right shoulder. Kai liked it for some odd reason, Kyungsoo liked it because it would button perfectly on his chest without bursting.

After they had left the mall, Kyungsoo brought them around to the cheaper stores. The bulk of their shopping was done at Walmart since they produced large sizes and cheap prices that Kyungsoo could afford. The only items that they could find was a large number of sports like outfits, basketball shorts, and basketball jerseys, a couple oversized T-shirts and sweat pants. But after a day of driving around and shopping for clothes was enough to exhaust Kyungsoo and call it a day. Grocery shopping would have to wait for tomorrow. So, they settled back home and the two made a quick and easy spaghetti and sauce dinner.

Kyungsoo had realized that even though Kai asked a lot of questions and had a lot to compare between the various worlds, he wasn’t all bad of company. The alien was naturally just curious of things, so he couldn’t blame all the questions—he probably would do that same. And by the very end of the night while they ate their dinner, Kai sat silently with his legs crossed on the floor and watched the television. Another documentary playing about Siberia this time.

֍  ҉  ֎

When morning came, Kyungsoo found himself waking slowly and feeling a little better than he did yesterday. It wasn’t great sleep, but still better than the day before. He slowly trudged out of bed again, with his blanket cocooned around his body and waddled into the living room. This time he found Kai without a blanket (once again) and his head comfortably placed on the pillow, Heddy sitting on his side.

“Traitor.” Kyungsoo mumbled and walked over to the blinds to look outside. Nothing out of the usual, cars missing and his neighbor walking her puffy white Pomeranian.

Kyungsoo was surprised when Kai never responded to his movements, in fact, Kai hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch until another two hours later. Kyungsoo didn’t do much in those two hours, he mostly stuck his nose in his phone and sent out emails, kept up with his social media, and read a few chapters of web comics. Kai had woken with a jolt, finally, and his whole body seemed tense, Kyungsoo could see that as he was sitting at the kitchen table, snacking on dry cereal. Kai immediately sat up straight and scared Heddy—to that she jumped down and trotted away to greet Kyungsoo.

Kai turned and found Kyungsoo still wrapped in his white comforter.

“Good morning?” Kyungsoo broke the silence, Kai had been staring for a rather long time. Heady had jumped on the table and watched Kyungsoo eat with her piercing green eyes.

“Is it a good morning? I just… seemed to have fallen asleep… What time is it?”

“It’s only ten thirty.” Kyungsoo answered.

“When did you wake up?”

“Like, eight-ish. I went to bed early, so I woke up a little early. Why, what time did you fall asleep?”

“Just about the same time. I’m sorry, I did not mean to sleep so much, I expected to not sleep for another couple days.”

“No that’s fine, if you want to sleep more you can, I don’t mind at all. I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Kyungsoo shrugged.

“No I’m all set, an Allve needs only a minimum of ten earth hours to sleep. Nights and days are significantly longer on Eleto.”

“Oh… wow, that’s interesting..”

Kai nodded and eventually stood from the couch, clad in black basketball shorts and an overly large red shirt. He stretched, and his belly protruded just slightly, Kyungsoo felt a light pang in his stomach as he tried to get a glimpse at the muscles. He would have been lying if he said he didn’t want to get another gander at it, it was a rather lovely toned torso.

“Good morning is how we greet people at this time of day, by the way.”

“I’m sorry?” Kai asked.

“Good morning, it’s a greeting. You say it back to someone who said it to you or you say it to another person first.”

“Good morning.” Kai said in a not so gracious tone, barely any kind of inflection sounding in it.

“Eh, you’ll get the hang of the tone at some point. You’re good at catching on.”

“We greet each other with a hand on out chest and bow lowly while saying “edeth” which roughly translates to ‘savor’ if I am correct.”

“Savor… that’s odd.”

“Yes, it is to say to the other person to relish in the fact that you give them positive greetings and do not wish to kill them.”

“I’m sorry, you need to explain. I think I just missed something.” Kyungsoo shook his head and sat back in his chair. That went from zero to sixty, real fast.

“When Allve greet other Allve, it is important to place a hand like this,” he made a rather loose fist and pressed his thumb and index finger together and held that on the center of his chest. “And you must bow low, no matter the person.” He then bowed his head rather deeply, more so than Kyungsoo would do when meeting someone the same age as him in South Korea. “This is to hide our power. Our hearts are our main source of energy, where the inside is. The heart hides it from the world. To bow is to show submission, and that you mean no harm. To not bow means you want to challenge someone to the death, you display your source of power as arrogance if you do not bow. This does not happen often but often enough for it to be illegal in the king’s palace, unless you have legal reason. Outside of the aristocracy it happens much more often than it should.”

“So should I like bow whenever I see you then? Because you sure would kick my ass in two seconds.” Kyungsoo snickered.

“No, that’s alright. We make exceptions for those outside the Allve. That is why I did not greet you like that earlier. It was not a custom to you.”

“Well, where I grew up we actually do bow. Either to greet or out of respect to everyone, it’s rude if we don’t. We don’t kill each other, though.” Kyungsoo laughed.

Kai then tuned and watched as Kyungsoo ate another handful of dry Captain Crunch. He scrunched his nose and lips frowned.

Kyungsoo tilted his head. “You seemed disgusted, what’s the matter?”

“How do you eat those little bread things without milk?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “I dunno, sometimes I just wanna eat them as is.”

Kai walked over to the kitchen and began to grab himself a bowl and milk. Kyungsoo was surprised how bold he was to do so, he half expected the alien to ask or wait for cereal to be offered.

“Hey. So, how come I can read your facial expressions? I mean you make faces that look similar to humans and I just kinda guess your body language based off humans.”

“Yes, I noticed this as well. It is a phenomenon that spreads all over the universe where like-organism’s will have such similarities. We have very similar base evolution structure so we share similar structures in bone and muscle, leading our species’ to be even more similar in body language and understanding what they mean. Humans I have noticed, “wear their hearts on their sleeves”?”

“Where did you hear that?” Kyungsoo brightened as Kai filled his bowl at the table.

“Amy said it once.”

“Huh..” Kyungsoo took another handful of cereal. “So anyways, are you okay with going grocery shopping today? We’ll pick up some food and then the girls wanna come over again. They’ll probably talk about nonsense and make you watch YouTube videos and memes or something. They’ll also try helping you look for more things for your wrist. I can put on a documentary to shut them up otherwise, if you want.”

“I do not mind… Though.. I do not think I’m going to find anything. Earth just has no way of providing enough energy to power my calus… I may, just, never leave here.”

Kyungsoo suddenly froze and let the weight of those words sink in. He guessed he would have to prepare to house the alien for the next who knows how long they had to live. It was a thought that made him uncomfortable, and honestly, useless.

֍  ҉  ֎

The rest of their day was honestly just fine. Amy and Raj were eccentric and rather obsessive over Kai as usual. They had dinner together with ingredients from shopping earlier in the day, which honestly wasn’t all too terrible. Kai was fascinated with the way a grocery store worked and between you or him, he was quite repulsed with the excessive amount of food that wasn’t being purchased or used.

Quite honestly, the next couple of days were nice. Kyungsoo had four more days to spare before he had to go back to work since he was still allegedly camping and gathering research material. However, since he had all the research he could really get, that meant he had to start the actual book work. Which he dreaded but forced himself through anyway. It was during that time that Kai discovered just how smart Kyungsoo really was. Kyungsoo was extremely knowledgeable in his area of study and took Kai through just about every step while he studied, wrote down measurements, observations, and sketches. It honestly helped Kyungsoo with his own research, it was just writing the paper itself that annoyed him. So, to keep Kai occupied while he typed, he set Kai up with various puzzles. The first test was the Rubik’s cube, which he could solve in thirty seconds on the first try (without being told the secret), it would have been less if it weren’t for his large hands. He could play a Nine Men’s Morris easily and solve the most elaborate maze that Kyungsoo knew. He was even good at games of Chinese chess, xiangqi (Kyungsoo had a rather sweet spot for the game, his grandmother having taught him at a young age.) But Kai was very good at it, enough to beat Kyungsoo just about every time. It was during those moments when Kyungsoo would share his knowledge that Kai would greatly enjoy Kyungsoo’s presence, even if he hadn’t really shown it. The girls hadn’t the time to visit for those days, work getting the both of them. So just the time that they spent and indulging each other in intellect, they found it… Stimulating.

It was on the fourth and last day of Kyungsoo’s freedom that he decided they would do some heavy cleaning in the apartment. He would be working again and that meant he would have little time to do anything, really. That meant laundry for the week, bed sheets and towels included, and the kitchen and bathroom were in desperate need of a scrub down. So, late that Sunday summer afternoon (after Kai had final woken up), Kyungsoo stuck to the bathroom while he made Kai do the laundry. Music was blaring smoothly through the apartment, songs that were calming and not too hype.

Music was another item that Kai found himself deeply attracted to. It was so different from the music on his world, but he loved it. There were so many places that produced music and millions of people around the world were doing their best in producing sounds different from the next. Kai especially loved car rides when Kyungsoo would plug in his phone or turn on the radio, so long as he was free to switch between songs.

Kai had just finished separating the clean laundry when he walked in on Kyungsoo on his knees, hunched over the tub and humming to the song playing. It was a lovely deep tone that Kai found quite enjoyable. Kyungsoo had been wearing just his underwear and an old pajama shirt, as he did not want the smell of cleaning products to perforate his clothes. His rear was up and covered just barely by his briefs. Kai made very little noise as he walked up to the doorway and watched as Kyungsoo’s shoulder moved back and forth, scrubbing the base of the tub and appreciated the way his milky smooth thighs jiggled with each movement. He quite honestly would have liked to wrap his hands around them and squeeze, not in a sexual way but with genuine curiosity to know how they would feel.

But thankfully, a cough accidentally escaped his lips before he had any other odd thoughts.

Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder then straightened his back before turning to the alien.

“What’s up?”

“I have finished separating. What would you have me do now?”

“Well you gotta fold them now, you dingus, and put them away. They won’t put themselves away.”

Kai nodded and went on his way back to the living room to finish. Kyungsoo just chuckled to himself. In the middle of folding the clothes, the song had changed. It made Kai halt his actions and listen intently. Eventually, he found himself standing on his feet and moving his body along to the song.

It was now Kyungsoo’s turn to walk in on Kai as he danced. The very breath had been drawn from his lips upon watching Kai’s body twist and reach to the song. He had never seen anything like it and he could not tear his gaze away. The song was I Can’t Help Falling In Love by Haley Reinhart. Slow and rather indie sounding, nothing that Kyungsoo imagined anyone really dancing too. The way his body seemed so malleable like he had no control over it made the pale human hold his breath. It wasn’t until Kai had stopped and looked him in the eye did he realize he had been holding it in.

“This song, ‘only fools rush in’ it is a wise saying then?” Kai stared Kyungsoo down with one of his more serious faces.

“Uh… No, not really,” Kyungsoo chuckled. “It’s just a saying. Sometimes it’s hard for humans to express their feelings to one another so they come up with all sorts of different phrases and words to make a comparison for their feelings. Like, ‘my feelings for you are as vast as an ocean’ is used to signify how deep and how much they love them. It’s not necessarily a true statement, so you don’t actually hear _wise men_ saying ‘ _only fools rush in_ ’ it’s just a song to explain how much they love someone else. Yeah, sure, there are some people who are stupidly in love and make bad decisions, but not everyone. It’s like… A relatable quote, I guess?” Kyungsoo breathed out, not really sure he was making any sense or if he answered the question. “Like the part ‘take my hand, take my whole life too’ that’s a huge metaphor for wanting someone to love you as much as you love them, it goes from zero to sixty real fast its—” While Kyungsoo was muttering to himself, a ladybug had gone and flown from the ceiling. Their eyes followed the insect easily and stared at the red and black dotted beetle as it landed in between them. They looked back at one another and it was in that moment that their eyes seemed to be paralyzed. Kai’s golden eyes for some reason, and quite literally, glistened like a flash of light washed through them and Kyungsoo nearly gasped at the sight. Then suddenly, out of nowhere like lightning, Heddy came and pounced on the ladybug.

“No! No no no no no!!!” Kyungsoo panicked and picked up the cat, bringing her to his room while muttering a slew of ‘don’t do that, it’s harmless’ to her. Then continued to pet her head and give her a kiss, because who could resist such a cute face? He came back and found Kai with the ladybug on his arm and crawling its way up. “We consider that good luck,” Kyungsoo smiled as he walked up to the alien.

“Will it bite?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No. Well, it could. But there’s a good chance it won’t. You’ll barely feel it if it does, you’re also very docile to most bugs that would bite so I’m not worried… This is a ladybug, but it’s not a bug. It’s a beetle, part of the coleoptera family. Like lightning bugs.”

“Yes, I remember this.” He held his arm out as Kyungsoo raised a hand to keep the small critter from crawling any further up his arm. “But why do they mean good luck?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “It’s different in every culture. But universally they mostly symbolize good luck, or love to some sort.”

“I enjoy that.” Kai stated even though his face quite honestly was deadpan. Kyungsoo laughed to himself about it. “Love, is complex for humans. I pity you.”

Kyungsoo raised his brows and sighed out, “you have no idea.”

֍  ҉  ֎

It was another two weeks that Kai spent with Kyungsoo. Amy and Raj made daily visits whenever they could spare their free time. Kai was the new play toy and they exploited all they could of him. Kai went along with each of their schemes, whether it was dress up, going to a movie theater, doing his hair and makeup or taking him to a park to watch him do some backflips and climb up trees. Kyungsoo found no qualm if Kai was okay with them hulling him around, especially since after a week no suspicious sign of activity came from the government. Even as Kyungsoo started work again (part time at the local Tim Horton’s, and assistant to the ecology department for the university) the two girls made frequent visits. On more than one occasion did Kyungsoo come home from late shifts to find them curled on the couch, watching a movie that Kai seemed enthralled with and his hair done in very pretty fashions. To which Kyungsoo wished he could have spent the day with them instead. Mostly, he just wanted to laze around and listen to Kai talk about the universe; what it was like, if it was possible to beat this monster that was apparently destroying everything. Earth seemed so small in comparison to everything else, oblivious, naive and a lost cause. They would perish within the years to come. Who knew how long it would take for it to happen…   

On one particular night, Kyungsoo walked into the front door of his apartment and found the lights off with Amy and Raj huddled together under his fleece blanket—Kai was sitting on the floor in front of them stroking Heddy gently. That was when another light pang ran through his chest and curdled his stomach, thinking about how he wanted Kai to stay with him. He then proceeded to feel guilty about those thoughts, coming home every day and night to see Kai and they could talk about something new. But he knew better, he knew Kai did not belong on Earth, he knew that he had a task to do. There was no room for him in Kai’s existence, it honestly made him rather sad.

 Kyungsoo then thought to himself; _how nice it would be to follow Kai…when he gets his device fixed and is on his way through the rest of his journey, it would be nice to join him._

Kai had noticed as Kyungsoo did not move from the doorway and simply stared at the three—the two girls had been fast asleep in each other’s arms.

“Welcome home.” Kai perked his head, his face showing something of intrigue. He had been dressed in a large white t-shirt that had been tied at his waist and baggy red shorts.

“Hey.” Kyungsoo cleared his throat and put his keys on the dining table and slumped his bag in the chair. He walked over to sit beside Kai on the floor, wondering what they had been watching. “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Kyungsoo chuckled tiredly. “This is a good one. A ridiculous situation that came out of nowhere.”

“It has humor to it that I do not understand. Amy and Raj were laughing often, I only laughed when the big man quieted the little man behind the door.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows as he thought about the scene, Kai was a bit morbid.

“Interesting.” Kyungsoo then settled fully against the couch, his elbow hitting Kai’s ever so gently as he let them sit on top of his knees. The room had been lit only by the television, it seemed to make him sleepier than he actually was.

Kyungsoo tilted his head slightly to look at Kai, taking in the new hair style and all his accessories. The earrings and gold hair rings and chains that he wore the first night they met. It looked good on him, _really_ good. “Your hair looks nice, the girls have fun?”

Kai nodded his head curtly.

“Did you eat?” Kyungsoo asked in a soft voice as he noticed the movie had been in the last couple of scenes.

Kai suddenly coughed rather hoarsely, “I have not eaten. But I am not hungry. Please, don’t worry about me.” Kai had said lowly as well, a small smile on his lips seemed to show his sincerity.

“Hey, if you don’t like my cooking, it’s okay. Foreign food isn’t always the best ya know.” Kyungsoo chuckled. He could sense that Kai was just being polite.

“No, I didn’t mean it to come off… Hurtful. I apologize. I just am not hungry—”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m just messing with you.” Kyungsoo laughed and got a good look at the alien next to him this time. He could no longer deny the state of Kai anymore, he looked sick. A light layer of grease covered his face and he seemed pale, so much more pale than when they first met. “Come on, you’ve been here for how long and you still haven’t lightened up? Sheesh, someone’s gotta take the stick out of your butt.” He tried his best to play off the uncomfortable sensation in his stomach.

Kai furrowed his brows, “There’s… No stick up my butt…?”

“Figure of speech.” Kyungsoo bemoaned.

They sat there in silence again, watching the movie and shoulders touching slightly. Kyungsoo had half a mind to ask Kai if he was okay, but he would probably lie and say he was. It wasn’t like he had medicine to help him anyways, he doubted it would work. He was probably malnourished, as his body wasn’t gathering the proper nutrients from Earth’s food. A doctor wouldn’t be able to help either, this was a new species of people, what could a doctor do? It was after that thought that Kyungsoo began to feel even more guilty about wanting Kai to stay, he did not belong here with him. Kai leaned in to their shoulder contact slightly, he was usually cautious about his human contact but as the days went on he seemed to get more and more comfortable with his spatial awareness to the human. And Kyungsoo liked it, he liked moments where Kai would stand close to him and him alone, when Kai would add a little pressure to moments like these, is was barely anything but it made Kyungsoo feel special. Like he mattered to Kai, especially when he wouldn’t do things like that with Amy or Raj. A light smile drew on Kyungsoo’s lips and he could feel himself grow tired with the weird sensation of elation and guilt coursing his stomach. He then thought to himself that he was going to enforce helping Kai get off Earth, the idea of the alien dying on his watch was dire in his thoughts.

As the movie turned into rolling credits Kyungsoo had slipped off into his dreams. His head had been lulled over to the side and his body leaned heavy on Kai’s. It made the elf uncomfortable for just a moment, but he quickly relaxed when he noticed that Kyungsoo was fast asleep. He stayed there for a moment, staring at the small and pale human and his mind raced. His thoughts were full of questions and wonders; _what would Kyungsoo’s life be like if I had not met him_? _What will happen when the universe perishes? Would his life have been made a bit easier if we had not met?_ There was a conversation he had earlier in the day with Amy and Raj and it resonated within him. They had brought up the fact that Kyungsoo was little more on the edge lately, working late shifts did not help, but he was quick to snap and let rather snide comments leave his lips. The girls were genuinely worried for him and wondered if there had been something on his mind. Of course, the two girls had no knowledge that the universe was about to end, so maybe they had less reason to be so worried.

 _It would be nice, if you could live happily._ Had been the simple thoughts that Kai had concluded. To that he stood and leaned over Kyungsoo to pick him up with ease. With just the help of a little magic he was able to keep the human fast asleep as he carried him off to his bed and tucked him in.

“You are kind, Kyungsoo.” He said so softly. _I wish I could thank you, properly._

“Are you leaving?” Amy suddenly asked in a hoarse voice.

Kai had turned his head as he released his hand from Kyungsoo’s forehead.

“You are awake.”

“Yeah, your ruffling with him woke me. I need to get going, I have work in the morning.” She yawned and curled the fleece blanket closer to herself. She spoke after a while of watching Kai as he stood over Kyungsoo. “So, are you leaving?”

“Not yet.. Soon. I must try.”

“Where will you go?”

“The next spot in my journey.” Kai walked away from Kyungsoo, ready to leave the sleeping human.

“You know, there are a lot of secrets about you.”

Kai looked down at the small, pale, female human, his face bore an expression rather similar to the human emotion of hopelessness. It twisted the cogs in Amy’s heart, something was not entirely right there.

“I know.” He whispered as he shut the door.

As the next morning rolled around, Kyungsoo stirred in his puffy white sheets and smiled with how wonderful he felt. His body buzzed with a comforting warmth all over, nothing hurt, not even his lower back which usually felt tense in the morning. The sun had peeked slightly through the shades, bringing in another level of comfort that seemed too good to be true. He sat up slowly, his hair a wry and face swollen with the descent of sleep. He definitely did not remember getting himself in bed last night, in fact the last thing he remembered was watching the ending of _The Grand Budapest Hotel_ next to Kai.

Kyungsoo got up, wrapped in his comforter and walked out of his bedroom. The door was shut, and it further confused him. As he walked into the living room he noticed that the blanket he usually left out for Kai was bunched up on the couch and Kai seated at the dining table eating a bowl of dry cereal. He still looked pale, more so now that there was proper light. His back was hunched, and he seemed thinner, like he was ready to fall over and take a nap.

“Good morning.” Kai had said in an easy voice but soon coughed harshly after.

“Morning…” Kyungsoo rubbed his eye, still trying to make sense of what was going on. “What time is it?”

“Ten-forty.”

“Ugh, I wasted the whole morning.” Kyungsoo grumbled, but not really that upset.

“No you did not. You still have an hour and twenty minutes to go.” Kai said as a matter of fact.

“No, I mean there were things that I wanted to do today, so I could have the afternoon off.” He waddled his way over to the kitchen table and plopped on a chair.

“Why? You could just do it later today.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to spend the rest of my afternoon with—” Kyungsoo caught his words before finishing.

Kai raised a brow.

Kyungsoo snickered, and then leaned back in his chair and let his body melt. “...I can’t remember the last time I slept like that.” He mumbled to himself.

Kai smiled, so very faintly and so very quickly. He did not say a word of the answer and watched as Kyungsoo curled himself further into the comforter.

“Ughhh!” Kyungsoo moaned loudly. “I don’t want to do anything today!”

“Why don’t you?”

Kyungsoo paused for a moment. “You mean why don’t I ‘not do anything today’?”

“Yes, why not relax?”

“Well.. I have to go grocery shopping, pick up toilet paper and get my oil checked. And I won’t have any time for at least another week. Today’s my only day off.” Kyungsoo pouted.

“Theren alle’monech. Direja minath.”

“What’s that mean?”

“An idiom of a sort. ‘Do what you do. Or don’t’.. If I have translated properly.”

Kyungsoo snorted, “I’m sure you did.” He stood up and walked over to the window that overlooked the parking lot. The plastic white vertical blinds had been drawn so that the morning light could not seep in. “It’s a dumb idiom.” Kyungsoo said as he peeked out one of the blinds.

“Are you hungry? Shall I make you a bowl of milk and cereal?”

“Please?” Kyungsoo asked politely as Kai stood up and put his into the sink. “Also, why aren’t you sleeping? You usually don’t wake up for another couple of hours.”

“It was hard to sleep.” Kai said over the run of the faucet. The wall in between the kitchen and living room blocked his voice out.

But as Kyungsoo stared out the window, he noticed the odd placement of cars and people walking around. There was never a mailman until three in the afternoon, and he had never seen the man sitting in a trench coat reading a newspaper before. Not many people wondered into the apartment complex that did not live there. It was possible someone had just moved in, but Kyungsoo was sure none of the apartments were for sale. There were cars dispersed around the parking lot, more than usual on a Monday morning. Most people were gone, at work or on errands, there were just one too many cars. Something was off.

“Oh yeah? What was it? I told you to do whatever you wanted to get comfortable. You’ve been here for a while now. I would hope you’d be comfortable enough to do what you had to.” He spoke normally as if nothing was wrong, trying not to alert his friend. But as he counted how many men were walking about, Kai had appeared behind him and grabbed his hand that held the shade open. He closed it quickly and pulled Kyungsoo away from the window, holding him flush against his chest.

“Stay away from there.”

“You saw them?”

“I heard.”

A level of panic began to rise in Kyungsoo’s heart. “What do they want?”

“They want me. They want to confront us, to take us away somewhere. I don’t understand where, but they’re ready to use force and weapons.”

Kyungsoo pulled away from Kai’s grasp and turned around. “How long have they been there for?”

“For much of the morning. I think they were waiting for a sign of movement. And now you’ve given them that.”

The realization made Kyungsoo’s heart sink.

“I need to call Amy. She can’t come over today.” Kyungsoo panicked and ripped himself from Kai completely, letting his comforter drop to the ground and race to the bedroom for his phone. He froze when he thought about the fact that his phone might be wired, or that they might be listening in on his apartment. “Shit… Shit shit shit shit shit..” Kyungsoo got up from the bedside and looked around.

“You have to remain calm, Kyungsoo.” Kai said earnestly as he followed the male into the room and coughed once again.

“I can’t call her. If they tap my phone, then they know where to go. I have to get to her first. Or Raj, or something. They can’t come over or they’re done for. Shit!” Kyungsoo nearly yelled.

“We can’t leave without being intercepted, though. The house is surrounded.” Kai inquired.

“Well no shit Sherlock!” Kyungsoo snapped. The look of hurt on Kai’s face was enough to make Kyungsoo regret his words. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t.. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s okay. You’re scared.”

“I’m not scared—” He snapped again but was cut off by a knock at the front door.

Kai stood up to listen out for who was there, Kyungsoo’s chest beat hard with the sound of his heart.

The knock came again.

“It’s them. They want to knock the door down if we do not answer soon.”

“Fuck!”

“Get your things, only the things you most absolutely cannot live without.” Kai had turned to the human and spoke with a fierce sternness.

“Wh-Wait, why?” Kai had left him in a hurry. Moving into the living room to make quick work of things.

“Just do it. Fill your backpack with the most essential items.” Kai called out from the living room.

Kyungsoo thought nothing more of it and got down to work. He found no time to bother changing and instead shoved a few pairs of underwear into his bag. He grabbed his deodorant, laptop and charger, phone and charger, socks, wallet, and all the snacks and water he could fit. It was all his brain could process as essential in the moment; later he would regret leaving so much behind. He shoved Heddy’s cat food and a few toys in his bag, all while calling out to her. He wasn’t about to leave his baby to be confiscated and dissected.

“Kai.” Kyungsoo said breathlessly as he ran into the living room.

What felt like mere seconds was actually minutes and the men were now banging hard on the door.

Kai had rushed to Kyungsoo’s side, dressed in the very first outfit he wore the night they met. Kyungsoo only wished that he had enough time to admire the look. His hair was messily tied back in a pony tail and face firm with pale distress. He seemed to mull over something quickly, his eyes searching all over Kyungsoo’s body for a hot moment before looking up.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asked as Kai turned away and stared off at the bedroom door. Suddenly, Heddy had come running into the living room and leapt into his arms. “There you are!”

“Think of Amy’s home.” Kai rushed. The door was slowly breaking, pieces of metal and plastic had been chopped away at.

“What?!”

“Think of it!”

Kyungsoo shut his eyes tight, thinking of the apartment his two best friends had shared since he had first lived in Canada.

The door slammed open on them, people in black masks had thick ski-like goggles surrounding the door, waiting for a “clear” before proceeding. But before the men could engage with them, Kai and Kyungsoo had vanished in a plume of white, luminescent smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've read this fic before, these last 1 1/2 chapters have been newly added scenes so I hope you enjoy.


	6. And he could show me many things

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39WnMmvW-gM&index=3&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) \- the escape from earth  
---  
  
֍  ҉  ֎

Kyungsoo desperately clung to Kai for his life, even as they had hit solid ground and were in the presence of a dark and musty room. He had been pressed against Kai’s chest with arms secured around his shoulders and protectively holding them there. He could hear the haggard breaths and swelling of a cough ready to emit from Kai’s chest, it sounded terrible in there. Kyungsoo was hyperventilating and holding just a bit too tightly onto his cat so the small thing wriggled its way to freedom. Kyungsoo gasped and tried to call out for her and break away from Kai, but the disorientation in his body and mind were too much. He wavered, still breathing heavy and trying to stabilize the way he felt. Not a moment later did Kai remove a hand and place it on top of Kyungsoo’s head, and the other on his forehead, brushing back hairs and sliding down to his cheek.

“Wh-What?” Kyungsoo’s face turned red. “What are you doing?”

Kai did not respond and simply gave an intimate inspection of the human's face.

“Wh-What—” He tried to pull away, but Kai was firm.

“I am checking for hemorrhages or any other abnormalities.”

Kyungsoo calmed down and let the elf do his thing. When he finished Kyungsoo had grabbed his arms and held on instinctively, his balance still incoherent.

“Oh, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Kyungsoo bemoaned, his face ran pale and saliva began to form in his mouth. The small human fell from the white-haired being and down to all fours, dry heaving until bile had been spewing from his mouth. Kai knelt beside him and rubbed a comforting hand on his back.

“Better?” Kai asked as Kyungsoo had finished heaving and sat on his heels.

He did not respond right away, letting his body relax for a moment and breathing heavily. “Yeah, better.” He breathed out, then looked around the house and noticed that it was not Amy’s apartment. “This is Amy’s summer home… We spent all last summer here… How did..?”

“My device was connected to you subconsciously for a short time. Did you think of this place by accident?”

“I… I might have… When they were breaking the door down it reminded me of how scared I was then. A bear was on the front porch trying to get in, but we all thought it was a serial killer… It must have been a sense memory thing.. Your device is sensitive.”

Kai nodded.

“I thought it was broken.” He motioned to Kai’s wrist.

“It is.”

“Then how did it get us here?”

“It does not have the capability to travel between worlds. I do not possess the energy source for that anymore.”

“That’s it?”

Kai nodded in response. Kyungsoo snickered and tried to stand to his feet. He wobbled and nearly fell over but Kai caught him in his arms, Kyungsoo again holding onto him for dear life.

“How long am I going to be like this for?” He groaned as he looked the alien straight in the eye. It sure felt like the sensations running through his body would never go away.

“For a little while. Your body just displaced itself and you’re weak, I don’t imagine a human’s body will recover like Allve.”

“Great… I hope that doesn’t mean I’m permanently stuck like this.” Kyungsoo breathed out and tried his best to stand up straight. “And I hope you don’t plan on staying with me like this until I can stand on my own.”

“I’ll stay for however long you need me.”

It was a simple statement, but most definitely one that Kyungsoo had not been expecting. It made his heart swell in a funny fashion, so he snickered. “Just put me in a chair.”

Kai did as instructed and helped him over to the musty couch, settling him down and helping him get comfortable.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll clean it when I’m better.”

Kai had been searching for something, Kyungsoo could tell, and caught him before he could clean the bile. Kai stopped and retracted into himself, as if he did not know what to do. It was kind of cute, a tall, well-structured man in a ridiculous outfit. He then moved on, going for a lamp to turn it on. When he kept turning the switch, Kyungsoo chuckled.

“The electricity is off.”

Kai stopped and retracted again, he nodded in response.

Kyungsoo could not help but chuckle at this. “As soon as I feel better, we’ll get this place running, okay?”

Kai nodded again.

“What you can do is open the windows, get some air and light in here. And can you make sure Heddy didn’t get out and that she’s okay? I’m sure she has it a lot worse right now.”

Kai nodded again, but this time with much more enthusiasm. He did as he was told and began letting light into the house. The outside world was green, trees upon trees just beyond the driveway. They had been surrounded in heavy forest, just a small clearing for the house to living under.

“It’s a thirty-minute drive to the beach from here. It was a good summer for the beach last year… I wonder why we didn’t do it again this year..” Kyungsoo mumbled to himself as he tried to look outside, the bright light was a bit too much on his retina’s.

“Beach.. I searched this once on your laptop. They reminded me of my home.”

“Do you have a lot of beaches there?” Kyungsoo asked with an inflection of intrigue.

“Yes, many. My ancient people were seafaring. Forest and beach. These are the terms..” Kai had stared out the window for a while, his back completely to Kyungsoo.

“...Do you miss your home?” He asked in a quiet voice, tender and kind.

“..Yes.” Kai responded just as softly and just as vulnerable. It pulled at something in Kyungsoo’s heart, it made him feel sad. Especially when a hoarse cough would emit from the elf’s mouth every so often.

But not an hour later and Kyungsoo was back to normal. He had got up and took Kai around the house and turned the electricity on in the kitchen and living room from the breaker panel on the side of the villa. They decided they would sleep in the living room if they stayed the night, not wanting to create any ridiculous bill for Amy’s mother who owned the place. The wifi was up and running by the time they had settled and were snacking on marshmallows. It was a year old, unopened package and for some reason they were still good. Kai quite enjoyed the taste of them. But as they snacked away, Kyungsoo took to his laptop and called Amy on facetime. He hoped he could keep it short because who knew if the people after them were tracing his laptop or phone.

“Amy!”

“Hey, I just went on break, what’s up? And why’s it so dark?” She moved the camera to her face, you could tell she was using her phone.

“I don’t have a lot of time. So, really quickly: people just broke into my house. I don’t know who they are or if they’re government related but they broke the door down and Kai and I teleported out. They didn’t seem nice. Don’t go to my apartment today. I don’t know how long but I bet they know you know something. So just lie low with Raj for a while.”

Amy was silent, she had stopped walking and stared at the phone.

“What the fuck… I literally left your house at one in the morning. How can so much happen in such a small amount of time.”

“You’re telling me. Alright, I just wanted to let you know. They’re probably listening to the conversation right now so I’m gonna hang up.”

“Wait, where are you? Where’s Kai?”

Kyungsoo shifted and Kai had leaned over to reveal his head of white hair. He stood behind the couch. “I don’t want to say it out loud, but it’s this place.” He took the laptop and spun it around, only the little bit of light coming from the living room window had shown.

“‘Kay, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Wait, what! No—” Before Kyungsoo could finish the call had been disconnected. “Mother fucker.” He sighed out.

“You don’t want her?”

“I don’t think it’s safe. She could be followed, intercepted, I dunno. Just.. Ugh. Fine. If we get caught, we get caught.” He slammed his laptop closed and slumped into the couch.

“Call her again.”

“No, I don’t want to risk them tracking us through the signal.” He grumbled, then opened his laptop up and held the off button until it was completely shut down.

Kai smiled at the cute reaction, “Then, what do we do?”

“Well.. We wait. And hope she brings real food instead of Saltines and Maple Leaves and marshmallows.”

“I can eat Maple Leaves all day.” Kai had walked around and took his seat next to Kyungsoo on the couch. The statement made Kyungsoo chuckle.

They stayed there for a moment, silent and thinking about what was next to do. Kyungsoo eventually broke the silence after staring at Kai’s profile. It was a mystery how Kai was so good at hiding his current state. Maybe it had to do with being an alien, but it just physically hurt Kyungsoo to look at him. Especially hearing the way he breathed, Kai virtually almost never made any noise, but he could hear the soft tuffs of air leave his nostrils now.

“What are you gonna do?”

“What do you mean?” Kai tilted his head.

“I mean, like what if you get caught? What if I can’t keep them from you?”

“I don’t know… I can transport as far as this can take me on earth. Until it runs out.”

“But _then_ what?”

“I’m starting to make peace with the fact that I will perish with this world…”

“Oh.. No, Kai you can’t do that—”

“Please, don’t worry about consoling me. It is the truth. If I am beside you, I do not mind perishing with this world.”

Kyungsoo’s cheeks had flared immediately. It was quite the confession to his ears and he was so unbelievably conscious of the being beside him. To distract himself from the said male beside him the two rationed out their food and made sleeping arrangements on the couches. But as the evening rolled on by and the two were engaged in light conversation about love and sex on earth, a car had pulled in and lit up the living room walls. The sun was just setting as the owner of the car walked out and pulled out a pizza from the back seat.

Kai had opened the front door to greet the person, Kyungsoo had run up from behind Kai and spoke quickly, “Were you followed?” He reached a hand out and pulled his best friend into the house.

“Surprisingly, no. At least not that I noticed.” Amy seemed a little ditzy about the severity of the situation as she maneuvered the pizza to the coffee table, it kind of left a taste of irritation in his mouth.

“Are you absolutely sure?” Kyungsoo pressed, he wished she took this just a bit more seriously.

“Yes, yes.” She waved him off and maneuvered her way to place the boxes of pizza on the table.

“You shouldn’t have come… But thank you.”

Amy smiled in response, “You know I’ll do anything for you, Soo. Raj is on her way, she wants to see you, too. Just in case it’s the last time we see you.”

Kyungsoo’s face ran pale, oh the troubles he had gotten himself in.

“No. I will not allow that.” Kai said firmly, his face hard.

“Whether you allow it or not is not up to you.” Kyungsoo let out absent mindedly. “You can’t get off this world and I can’t just ask Amy or Raj to take care of you. You’re my responsibility. And maybe I’m overreacting but I feel like we’ve grown closer in the last few weeks. I do like you, you’re cool. So, I will help you for as long as I can.”

The room was silent, but Kai’s face was slowly melting from its harshness. Maybe it had something to do with his deteriorating health, but for some reason the words ‘childlike’ popped into Kyungsoo’s head when he looked at the elf.

“Your resilience never ceases to amaze me.” Kai knelt to one knee and bowed his head. “Please. Help me, until you physically and mentally can no longer.” He cleared his throat, it seemed like he was suppressing a cough.

Amy gasped in delight and Kyungsoo stuttered, “Oh! U-Uh! Um, no no! It’s not that polite!” He stumbled over and helped the elf rise.

As they did so Amy laughed and started serving the pizza, “I can’t believe you just got a proposal.”

Kyungsoo snorted at that and offered a rather prissy crinkle of his nose to the blonde girl. They ate in the living room, huddled around the couch and conversing quietly. Amy had brought extra clothes from the retail store she worked at and all the money she could spare for them. Amy figured they were going to need such necessities if they were going to keep running away. As they talked more, the situation seemed to get more real and Kyungsoo’s heart pounded against his chest and stomach churned with nerves. It was possible he was about to become a government fugitive. But what did that matter if the universe was ending? There had been so much going on that he distanced himself to the back porch to quiet his head. The lightning bugs were dying now, their numbers few in the forest. Heddy was relaxing in a soft purr on his lap as they sat there, his legs swinging through the bars of the porch. He sighed out heavily and looked to the sky. The opening of trees around the house was enough to show the intricate display of stars above—the light pollution was little, so they twinkled with glee.

There was spot in the sky, however, he noticed that was quite dull. Like a whole section of stars was missing. It made him tilt his head and then rub his eyes, thinking maybe there was something wrong with him. But as he looked back up the black spot was still there, and he wondered if maybe there was a cloud in the way that he could barely see. He sighed, anyways, and shrugged.

“...We’re all fucked.” He mumbled breathlessly. It was inevitable that the end was near and he could do _nothing_ about it. But at least the forest looked lit up like the twinkling stars, there was at least _that_ one good thing. But as Kyungsoo was just starting to feel the full effect of relaxation, someone had gone running through the house and slammed the porch screen door open. In the person’s hands had had been Kyungsoo’s laptop, Amy was not far behind.

“What’s the matter—”

“Where is this sight?” Kai asked rushed as he sat next to Kyungsoo. Heddy jumped and nearly ran away.

Kyungsoo leaned over to look at the screen after he calmed the cat, there had been a picture of Raj, Amy and Kyungsoo all huddle in a selfie in beach gear. It was sunny out and neither of them had ever looked so happy.

“We took this last summer… This was from our vacation here last year.” Kyungsoo looked up at the two people.

“Where is this necklace?” Kai pointed to the green stone on Amy’s chest.

“That was my grandma's. It’s a family heirloom. Why?”

“Because I need it to fix my device.”

“What?!” Amy snapped. “First of all, why? And second of all, no! My grandmother passed that down to me on her deathbed. It’s my duty to watch over it now.” Amy was quickly getting upset.

“Wait Amy, just hear him out.” Kyungsoo tried to mediate.

Amy crossed her arms defensively.

“This is a taurn. It produces an energy so powerful it could fuel my device for the rest of my life. If I get out of here, you guys might be able to go free.”

Even if Kai did leave Earth, there was no way who ever was chasing them would leave them alone. They would interrogate and question relentlessly until they were satisfied. Kyungsoo was aware of this concept but the quick though made him prepared for it.

“How the hell do you know it’s a taurn or whatever?” Amy chided.

“Because there is only one kind of stone that glows like that. And only eight of them were ever made.”

Both Kyungsoo and Amy furrowed their brows.

“What glow?” Kyungsoo asked as he looked at the picture again.

“Do you not see it?”

Amy walked behind them to look at the photo, bending over slightly.

“No, I don’t see anything.” Kyungsoo responded. Amy shook her head as well.

“Your eyes must not produce the ability to see it.”

Amy gasped suddenly, “Is that why the necklace was passed down?”

“What?” Kyungsoo asked.

“It was a lucky charm, remember? My grandmother told me it will bring me all the luck in the world if I wear it. But she said to not wear it too much. It wouldn’t be fair if all good things only happened to me.”

“I do remember that. You would wear it all the time after you got it.”

“Yeah, I thought it was just a dumb superstition. But a lot of good things did happen then. I was really happy… Even though my grandmother had just died…”

“Each taurn is different. This one seems to invoke positivity.” Kai inquired.

“So…” Amy’s voice was a bit melancholic. “It’s basically an alien artifact then?”

“That is the best theory. I don’t believe Earth can produce such natural materials. These stones were created by a very ancient people, when the universe was just beginning.”

“Then how did it get here? How has it survived so long?” Amy asked in an excited tone, she was anticipating all the answers to her problem.

“I don’t know how it got here. But these stones are indestructible. They cannot be destroyed. At least, there is no known method. Breaking them is near impossible, but this looks like a mere fragment of a whole piece, how did it come to you like this?”

Amy fell to her rear, it seemed as if her whole life had been a lie.

“My grandmother told me that it had been in the family for generations. That her great great great great grandfather had come across it in an old quarry in Russia… He had brought it home to sell for some food but as he chipped away at the rock over the course of a week, good things started to happen. So, the family took it as a good omen and he made it into a necklace for his wife. Since then, it’s been passed through the matriarch of the family.”

“Why didn’t it go to your mother?”

Amy shrugged, “My mom and grandma decided on her deathbed that I should take it.”

“Where is it now?” Kai interluded.

“I… I don’t know… I lost it sometime last summer. It could be here, or I lost it at the beach… Or at my mother’s, I really don’t know.”

Just as Kai was about to respond, a light from the front of the house had lit up the trees in the back. The three people froze and quickly scrambled once they heard a car door slam. Kyungsoo and Amy ran for the front door, trying to see through the darkness who had been approaching the house. Kai turned the lamp off and held onto Heddy.

A knock wrapped at the door, Kyungsoo and Amy had been peeking through the glass of the door to see who it was.

“That was really bad guys, I watched the light turn off. You can stop hiding, it’s just me.” Raj’s muffled voice came from behind the door. Amy lit up and immediately opened the door. The two embraced each other and laughed, Kai turned the lamp back on.

“You weren’t followed, were you?” Kyungsoo asked as they embraced.

“No, not that I noticed.” Raj put down her tote and closed the door behind her. “I brought snack’s and a cat carrier. Just in case.”

Kyungsoo’s face ran pale.

“Soo…” Amy could tell he was upset. “It’s the worst-case scenario—”

“I know. Please, give her to your mother, Amy. I know she’ll take good care of her.”

“She will.” Amy sat Kyungsoo down and held a hand on his.

“Your apartment was infested with CSIS. Or _whatever_ they were, they were all in uniform, taking stuff in and out. It looked like a mess.”

“Great.” Kyungsoo slumped back. “Well, guess there’s no going back now. We have an important task right now anyways.”

“What?” Raj asked.

“We need to find Amy’s necklace from last year.” Kyungsoo answered.

“If you’ll allow me to have it.” Kai looked to Amy with a polite demeanor.

Amy hesitated for a moment, she had been stuck in a pressured situation and really did not know the answer.

“Why?” Raj asked.

“Because it might be able to get Kai out of here.”

֍  ҉  ֎

 “Alright, I’ll check the apartment and when you’re done at your mom’s, meet me there.” Raj said to Amy just outside their cars.

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” They embraced quickly and placed a longing kiss on each other’s lips. This physically repulsed Kai. Kyungsoo took notice of his reaction.

“If we don’t hear from you we’ll assume the worst. But either way we’ll come back for you if we find something or not. We’re gonna get Kai out of here and safe.” Amy ran over to Kyungsoo and embraced him.

“I’m sorry you’re driving so much. Thank you.”

“Hey, this is most exciting shit in my life. Fuck money and my car.” She winked and ran off for her car. Both girls drove off, Heddy in Amy’s car and Kyungsoo’s heart heavy as it was left behind.

“Please stay safe guys.” He mumbled as he watched them go. Once their back lights were far enough he then turned to Kai with a stern face. “And you! What was that for?”

Kai seemed genuinely startled by Kyungsoo, he caused a wheeze to come from his mouth. “What?”

“Your obvious face and sound of disgust at them kissing!”

“I try to respect all different customs but that is just beyond repulsive to me.”

“Why? Because they’re the same gender?” Kyungsoo crossed his arms and grimaced.

“No, not at all. It is the act of their lips pressed together. The mouth is dirty. They just make one big mess.”

As the realization began to sink on Kyungsoo’s mind he lightened up. “So, you’re a germaphobe.” He stated with a smirk.

“I don’t know what that means.” Kai turned his head, still as stoic as ever. Denial, it was cute.

“Never mind. So, then what do your people do to show they love each other? Assuming you don’t like kissing because its not a custom to your people.. I can’t believe we haven’t discussed this… Then again, you only asked about humans and reproduction.. I never did ask you about yours, I guess.”

“Yes, my people do not partake in ‘kissing’. We consider the mouth dirty since it eats and takes in many things that may not have been entirely clean. Instead the main form of expressing.. Well… It’s…” Kai became reserved. “It is hard to explain.. We transfer our emotions to one another. Usually when confessing, joining or there is a particular romantic mood.”

“And how do you do that?” Kyungsoo’s arms dropped, now he had several questions about Kai’s people and _their_ thoughts on love, marriage and so on. What did he mean by ‘joining’?

Kai was silent for a moment. “Like this.” He lifted a hand and pressed it gently against Kyungsoo’s chest, right where his heart laid. Suddenly, Kyungsoo became overwhelmed with images and emotions. Sweet feelings of love and innocence, heartbreak and admiration. Before him was a girl, her skin dark and hair long, wavy and stark white like Kai’s. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen; no one on earth dared compare. But as the images passed by he noticed he had been seeing her as if he were Kai. There were moments of them alone, talking, her mouth moving and eyes watching in glee as if listening to something, though nothing could be heard. Moments where Kai would find her in a sea of other dark skinned and white-haired people, all equally beautiful. Moments of them laying down in fields of golden grass and Kai stroking her hair. Moments of her crying at the edge of an extravagant bed upon a veranda and a comforting hand on hers. But as the last images rolled by there was nothing but anger on her face. She yelled in vicious manners so much that it looked as if her pale gold eyes turned dark; Kyungsoo felt frightened at this, and guilty…like he had done something horrible. But as those angry images and stiff emotions had gone by, a calm relaxation shot through him. Suddenly, he saw himself wrapped in his white comforter. He looked cozy and warm and Kyungsoo was just a bit confused. Then, it stopped. Everything was gone, images and emotions. He gathered himself for a moment and breathed so heavily he thought he’d pass out. Kai held his shoulders to hold him up right.

“Who was she?” He asked finally, wiping his eyes of a few stray tears from the overwhelming emotions.

“The love of my life…”

Kyungsoo did not respond, instead he straightened his back and gathered himself, breathing hard through his nose.

“What happened to her?” He dared to ask.

“...She died.” Kai turned away, a shame baring greatly over him; a melancholy that Kyungsoo could not even begin to understand.

He chose not to push the subject any further. “So, if you want to tell someone how you feel, you do that? You… Make them feel and see what you do?”

“Yes, essentially.. However, the one inflicting the images does not know what the other is seeing. It’s emotions that are transferred but if a connection is strong enough, the other can see the memories along with those feelings. Allve only do this in sacred occasions, it is not often. Our emotions are important to us, for we tend to feel things much deeper than most species.”

Kyungsoo grimaced and watched as Kai sauntered back to the summer home, following him soon after.

“So what about humans then? You feel more than us?”

“I don’t know. We base these on scientific studies for species that process emotions. We have yet to do so on humans. But I have learned through qualitative observations that humans and etohn are very similar, I would not doubt that we have similar emotional values.”

Kyungsoo would keep the fact that he saw himself in Kai’s memories to himself. He had no idea of what it meant, but he liked the overwhelming relaxation that emitted from the memory. Maybe there were good things in Kai’s mind about him?

But then a silly thought went through his head not a second later, it would be easy to tease Kai with kisses.  He had a little bit of blackmail on the alien now.

֍  ҉  ֎

 “Okay. So, let us start the search.” Kyungsoo said as he turned all the electricity on in the house.

Kai had been coughing just behind him, hacking up something wet and wheezing as he did so.

“Hang in there Kai. We’re gonna find that crystal.” He mumbled.

Kai had stood up and the two went to work, opening drawers, cabinets, and up-turning everything. Couches were awry, the kitchen was a mess. Nothing was left alone. They moved up stairs when nothing presented itself. Kai had moved to Amy and Raj’s old room and searched in the darkness. However, just as his eye was drawn to the underside of the bed did he hear voices from downstairs. They spoke in whispers outside and turned out to have been watching them since Amy arrived. Kai nearly panicked and quickly leaned down to look under the bed. There before him had been a golden green glow from under a pair of shorts. He snatched the crystal through the cob webs and heavy layers of dust and ran for Kyungsoo.

“They’re here.” Kai skidded into the doorway of a guest room.

“Who’s here?!” He whispered and froze.

Kai stared him down, not needing to answer for Kyungsoo to get it.

“Shit.” Kyungsoo threw the bag he was holding down and scrambled to his feet. “We need more time—”

Kai held up his hand, showing the rather large emerald ball.

“You found it!”

A crash had suddenly come from downstairs, the back door had been broken in to.

“Quick, down the hall!” Kyungsoo shoved the alien on and stopped in the middle of the hall, pulling on a string and opening a latch to a secret compartment. “Get in there and fix your thing, I’ll hold them off, okay?” Kai nodded and jumped easily into the small opening. “Catch!” He whispered as he threw the string back up. But as his arm flew up, Kai had reached down and pulled him up with little effort. But Kai was weak and could not be as graceful as usual. Kyungsoo had landed on top of him, their bodies completely mangled in one another. Kyungsoo tried to brush off the initial shock and quickly climbed off to close the door. He pulled the string in a panic, keeping an eye on the staircase at the other end of the hall below.

He could only hope no one saw him as he closed the latch to the attic.

“What did you do that for?!” He whisper-yelled.

Kai stood up and grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand, pulling him quickly and quietly to a corner of the attic. Kai sat, hidden by a tall wooden closet and pulled Kyungsoo on top of him. Their legs had been completely entangled; Kyungsoo was nearly sitting in his lap as they faced one another. Kai quickly brought up his wrist, flipping switches and pressing buttons and removing a small white crystal. He held the first crystal out for Kyungsoo to take, he took it and inspected it slowly. Kai’s hands moved quickly, much too fast for him to process.

“Hey, why don’t I move?”

Kai simply yanked his arm down and kept Kyungsoo on top of his legs.

An explosion went off on the attic door, after the voiced men downstairs had searched all the rooms.

“Fuck!” Kyungsoo covered his ears and tried to shield Kai from the blast.

However, before any of the armed men could get their way up the stairless attic, Kai had slammed his wrist shut and shoved something into Kyungsoo’s mouth.

“What the fu—”

“Swallow.” Kai’s face was stern and rather scary. Kyungsoo complied easily after this.

Flashlights had been shining into the attic opening, scaring Kyungsoo that they were quickly running out of time.

“Just let me hold them off!”

“I’m not leaving you to them.” Kai had held firmly onto his arms.

“Wait! No!” Kyungsoo screamed as Kai embraced him and slammed on the device on his wrist. A great light encased them, nearly blinding Kyungsoo as he peeked through the opening of Kai’s arms. Electrical currents shot out, gusts of wind blew everything about. In seconds, they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter begins their adventure finally, I hope you enjoy who they meet. they're some of my favorite characters <3


	7. For he had many secrets

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_BIKweaGoM&t=0s&index=2&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) - main theme

֍   ҉   ֎

Everything finally came to a calm. There was no rush of vertigo and there was no disorientation. The process lasted much longer (by only five more seconds) but Kyungsoo could not even begin to describe what had just happened to him; there were no words in Korean, English or any Earth language that could describe what had just happened.

A heavy chest breathed against his head, soon, a fit of coughs began to shake it. Kyungsoo lifted his head after the initial dizziness had gone away to find Kai’s face nearly white, still ripe with sweat and a haze in his eyes. He looked like death, more so than before.

“Kai.” Kyungsoo panicked as he sat up to hold the alien’s face in his hands. “Kai, what’s wrong? Come on talk to me.” He said as Kai’s body fell forward, putting all his heavy weight and muscle on Kyungsoo’s small body. “Kai! Kai, stay with me!” He gasped as the weight of the alien drew the very air from his gut. He tried to reposition them but the unconscious alien in his arms was second to the fact that it looked like he was floating in space. There was solid ground, he could feel his rear flat on top one, but he could not see it. All he saw was an endless abyss of stars and universe; he was beyond muddled, perhaps it was some sort of illusion? Perhaps his brain got fried in the last traveling session? Eventually, albeit difficult, Kyungsoo was able to lay Kai down so that his head was in his lap.

“Kai, please… Don’t die on me. I don’t know where we are.” Kyungsoo said lowly and in a panicked voice, stroking away the beads of sweat and his gaze glancing from side to side.

“He won’t die.” A great voice sounded. It was grand—filling the whole space—yet soft as it echoed around the two of them. Kai’s hand had shot up and held loosely onto Kyungsoo’s. Kyungsoo looked down to see what was wrong but Kai’s eyes were closed. “He’s just sick. Afterall, he saved his last pill until it was absolutely necessary. Even then, he gave it to you.”

“What?” Kyungsoo muttered, taken aback by the words.

“Leave him to me.” The voice came suddenly in front of him, Kyungsoo shot his head up and saw before him a tall human. They wore no shirt, but a dark belt rested at their hips that connected a long flowing piece of cloth that looked metallic in nature yet flowed like silk.

“Wh-Who… Who are you?” Kyungsoo defended, his small chest propped out and face contorted between petrified and helplessness as he tried to shield Kai from the humanoid being.

The stranger seemed quite indifferent to Kyungsoo’s attempts and walked forward, a smile on their soft features. This scared Kyungsoo. “Please, stay back!” He raised his voice.

“There’s nothing to fear, Do Kyungsoo.”

The human froze in fear anyway. How on earth did this thing know his name? Kyungsoo could not help but notice how ridiculously tall they were—at _least_ three feet taller than Kai. They knelt beside Kai’s body, looking over it with gleaming eyes. Kyungsoo hadn’t the slightest of what to do, he would be powerless against this enormous being. But as they raised a hand, Kyungsoo felt the mighty urge to shoo them away. Before Kyungsoo could so much as let out a sound, Kai had squeezed his hand; he was trying to tell him to wait.

As the large hand hovered up and down Kai’s body, Kyungsoo watched carefully. The stranger’s eyes twinkled with light, literally, like glistening stars high in a midnight sky. Their hair was fluffy, brown, and short, like his own. A face that produced a level of youth with round, long cheeks, while the rest of the body was toned. Muscle leaking from just about every corner; and their skin was beautifully bronze, like peanut butter to Kai’s caramel. Suddenly, the stranger’s large hand began to glow in a sort of iridescent white light. They pressed it down on Kai’s bare stomach, making him gasp at the sudden pressure. Kyungsoo panicked and raised a hand to smack the stranger’s hand away, but Kai’s grasp on him prevented him once again.

The stranger’s hand raised on Kai’s body after releasing pressure from his stomach, trailing up to his chest and resting on his heart. Their hand lingered there and the glow ran brighter. A moment later the hand traveled to his head and rested there, the palm completely covering the size of Kai’s head. When the glow faded Kai’s eyes softened, his breathing became deep and color started to come back—the look of death was slowly leaving him. The stranger then let their hand trail back down his stomach.

 “Kai!” The large stranger whispered loudly, giving the elf’s belly a quick shake. “Wake up, Kai!!” They used a single large hand to tickle the toned stomach. It immediately threw Kyungsoo into a fit of confusion.

Kai simply scrunched his nose and groaned, clearly not wanting to be disturbed.

“Tickle, tickle, tickle.” The stranger repeated as they ran two enormous hands on the alien. Kyungsoo was now very perplexed.

The large human-like man stood up after giving a good hearty laugh. They walked past Kyungsoo, ethereal in their whole essence as not a sound come from their feet.

“W-What?” Kyungsoo breathed out again. But as he questioned, Kai finally opened his eyes and started to move around.

“Kyungsoo..” He whispered as he locked eyes with the man before him. They stared each other down, Kyungsoo still so very confused.

“How… Are you?”

“Xanin..” Kai let out breathlessly. Then, suddenly, his body jerked and rolled over to bow down. Kyungsoo quickly followed the direction Kai bowed in and took note of the alien’s position. His hands clasped in one another with index fingers jutting out in a curl and thumbs crossed with his forehead resting at the base of them. “My Lord, forgive me, I have failed you and did not complete my task—”

“I see you’ve done well, Kai. Son of Melanilth’kun.” The stranger’s voice boomed, louder than any vibration and echoed greater than any hall could offer.

Kai froze, daring to peek up. “But sir…”

They stared Kai down from where they sat, but what they sat on was invisible in every aspect. Why was this large human-like being sitting comfortably, their voice echoing like thunder and body walking as if floating?

A knowing smile seemed to smirk on the stranger’s face, “There is nothing to refute.” They pressed.

Kai dared to raise his head more to see what the stranger looked like.

“My Lord…”

“You’ve done exceptionally well, Kai. I praise you.”

“My Lord?”

“I sent you off, looking for solutions to this impending problem. I told you, you would travel far and meet the one true being who would help you through this journey, did I not?”

“Y-You did but..” Kai stood up, looking back and forth between Kyungsoo and the so-called person Xanin. “This was supposed to happen…” Kai breathed as he bore down on Kyungsoo.

“W-What?” Kyungsoo could feel his insides churning over and over, he was so unbelievably nervous, and he was getting fed up with repeating “what” over and over and not get any answers.

“Kyungsoo.” The stranger at the end of the hall called out. “Some thanks is also in need of recognition on your behalf. This task was not meant for one, not even two, really. But this is how it must be… This is the only way..” An air of melancholy washed over their voice, face turning somber and every bit of upset.

“No. I’m sorry, _what_?” Kyungsoo emphasized his ‘what’ a little harshly. “Who are you? Where the fuck am I? And what the _fuck_ are you talking about?!”

“Kyungsoo lower your voice…” Kai whispered as he helped the human to his feet, his eyes pleading for him to cooperate. A pang of embarrassment washed over Kyungsoo once he saw Kai; maybe his outburst was a little too much.

But before he could say anything, Xanin spoke out.

“Yes, that is to be expected… You now rest in the Hall of Five, a special place that resides here in this universe. To introduce myself and my existence is a cumbersome conversation and quite complex in itself. So, to put it as bluntly as possible, I am Xanin. The god in which Kai’s people worship. And to many others.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth fell open, his eyes gleaming at the large humanoid. “What do you mean—” he chuckled through his astonishment, “you’re the god of his people? How’s the possible? What are you? Like are you high and mighty? All powerful and righteous? …Prove it.”

A laugh echoed from Xanin down the hall, masculine and boisterous it sounded. “I’ve met many a great deal of humans from Earth. All of which were willing to doubt my existence and question my authority. It is an excellent quality. Keeps your minds open. Although, I _am_ aware that your species tends to also be… How shall I put it nicely… Ignorant.”

Kyungsoo was taken aback by the god’s words.

“Never mind.” They waved the human off. “If it is proof you want. Then proof you shall have.” With a simple raise of their hand, arm resting as if laid on an armrest, everything in the room flashed over.

One moment there were stars and an endless abyss of universe, the next, there was a luxurious hall filled with large braziers lit by massive blue fires. Columns beyond columns outlined the room, as if it were the great hall of a throne room. At one end stood five thrones, the one Xanin sat in—which looked of silver like the cloth around their waste. It was simple, yet it bore a nature of importance. It sat furthest to the right, from Kai and Kyungsoo’s perspective. Next to Xanin’s throne was one of golden rock, like moonstone. This one had a slight grander appearance to it than Xanin’s. In the middle was the largest and grandest of them all, it looked as if it were made of molten lava, rock that had cracks seeping of raging hot lava inside. It was breathtaking. To the left was a stool carved out of whatever the floor had been made of; there was nothing else to it, a small square stool that rose but a couple feet from the ground, or was it taller than that? It was hard to tell; Kyungsoo’s depth perception was off thanks to the overbearingly large size of Xanin. To the left of that stool was the last of them all. It looked like it might have been made of wood and small floral decorations with the way it interwove around itself, but it was hard to tell by the slight shine it possessed—like a polished gloss coat. The ground was solid and cold, a marble-like dark stone decorating the ground in the most ornamental way. Right below Kyungsoo and Kai had been an intricate design, like an insignia encased around a large circular symbol. Then on the outside of that circle were five smaller ones, linked and connected to the bigger one. Each small circle possessed a symbol, something Kyungsoo could not completely comprehend, though, it was beautiful. As Kyungsoo looked around he saw that the walls were not fully opaque, but transparent and showing the galaxies and stars just on the other side. It made his head hurt if he stared too long at the transparency.

“Okay… You got me.” Kyungsoo raised his hands and fell back to sit on his rear. Kai quickly caught the male in his arms and fell back as his cushion instead. It surprised Kyungsoo greatly, all he wanted was to sit down and take this information in, there was barely any energy left in him to want to stand and think about it.

“You are quick to accept this then.” Xanin chuckled.

“Yeah, well, I’ve seen a lot of freaky shit lately so I’m sure no matter how much it surprises me, it probably won’t really surprise me.”

“Understandable.” Xanin nodded.

“What did you do? How is that working?” Kyungsoo asked as he sat in the lap, letting his body relax into Kai’s form. He might as well enjoy the comfort if Kai wasn’t going to get up.

“I have bestowed you the gift of immortality.”

“What?!” Kyungsoo nearly shrieked.

“These halls were created by myself and my four other forebears, immortals. Mortals cannot view the halls we created, unless given permission by us. Which means, immortality must be gifted to you.”

“So, I can’t die?”

“Not from aging or sickness. But you can be killed. So don’t try anything daring.” They laughed. “I can also take your immortality away at any moment, the moment you leave this place I will smite the gift from you.”

“O-Oh. Okay… Well… Thanks, I guess.”

“You are kindly welcome.”

“So… because I’m not fully immortal, is that why I can still see the universe around?”

“Precisely. You are a quick learner. Good. You’ll need it to survive.” Xanin stood up from their throne, their bare chest and muscular glory baring down on two smaller beings.

“Wh-Why survive..?”

“Kyungsoo, I can see many things. I have seen many things. And will see many things. Interpret that as you will. But as I can naturally see, you, will naturally follow Kai. And it can only be you.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows, “because, you’ve seen this?”

“Yes. And because…” Xanin descended from the stairs the thrones had been perched on. “This also tells me.” Within a moment their arm was raised, and blue light radiated from their hand. The ground beneath the two males began to glow as well. “Now, what I am about to show you, no other living mortal or immortal has seen. Just myself and my four other cohorts.” The ground began to move, shaking as it grew brighter and brighter. The two shifted as the circle of the mosaic moved them, a near smooth ride as something rose from the bottom. A sort of well began to emerge from a pool of what looked like green water. It was tall, large and silver, matted down as if it were made of stone—Kyungsoo could not quite tell what it was made from in the first place. The two males stood to their feet as the contraption came to a halt, watching as Xanin moved their arm, which was now just a cloud of blue luminescent light that looked like the consistency of gel. Xanin stepped forward and what seemed like they would fall through water, only stepped on solid surface. “Take a look.” Xanin offered the two.

Kyungsoo looked to Kai to see if he should, Kai simply looked like he needed to get out of the room; panicked and nervous.

“Kai?” Kyungsoo reached a hand out to sooth the male.

“You may pray, Kai.” Xanin said suddenly to the panicked alien.

Kyungsoo watched as Kai knelt back to the floor and began to mutter words in another language. He then quickly looked back to Xanin. “Should I…?”

“Only if you wish. But you do not need to. There are no regulations or rules. It’s just how he copes.”

“What do you mean? Cope..?” Kyungsoo raised a brow.

“My existence cannot be simplified for the likes of most life-forms. To base my existence, and many others like me down to simplicity would be… Well, insulting.” Xanin took note of Kyungsoo’s expression. “What I mean is.. There is a small number of beings that can actually truly understand my existence. It may be because you were never meant to understand my presence, but that is simply how it is. And the way Kai’s people seem to cope with my entity is by deifying me… An older civilization on Earth would have deified me, but now, most organizations would find me to be a threat. And they have every right to! I’m probably one of the most powerful creatures to the known universe.”

“So… Okay. Why don’t you try explaining to me what you are? Maybe I’ll get it.”

“No, it won’t work like that, I’m afraid. Your brain’s hold the capacity to puzzle things together. But because you were not made in a way to understand my nature, it would only frighten you or your head will explode.”

Kyungsoo laughed.

“Have I said something funny?” Xanin tilted their head.

“Explode? I’m sure we’ll manage, I mean humans are stupid but we’re not _that_ stupid.”

Xanin raised a brow this time, “Won’t your heads explode if you think too much? Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere?”

“What the fuck, no! Not literally!” Kyungsoo nearly scoffed.

“Oh.. That mustn’t be your people then. Sorry, all you water-base lifeforms meld into one at some point.” Xanin smiled a toothy apologetic smile.

“Aren’t we technically carbon base?”

“Hm? Oh well yes, but you consist of mostly water. If you were entirely carbon, then you’d be Aphrindite. People made completely of diamond. You know, tetrahedra carbon shaped molecules and all.”

“Ah.” Kyungsoo nodded, trying his best to seem as if he knew exactly what Xanin was talking about, even though the idea of crystalline people made him want to scream. All he wanted to do at this point was sit in his living room and drink some tea, you could say he was feeling rather anxious with everything. “So basically, you're saying, because the years of evolution didn’t prepare me for a moment like this, I won’t be able to understand it?”

“Essentially. That is why I take this shape on many occasions, there are several species in the universe similar to the construct of humans. Hence, the reason why you and Kai look so alike. This appearance is modeled after some of Kai’s greatest and oldest ancestors. The Allve are highly revered in this universe, so I chose an appearance that would be recognizable. My equals and I often appear in forms that come comfortable to most, modeling our appearance to accommodate for a species we encounter. Taking our true form may not even work _because_ of the very nature we exist. Your brains and eyes simply could not process what we are, we might even be invisible if we appear in front of you.”

“Well why don’t we try it?”

Xanin chuckled uncomfortably. “Let us not. The first and last time I did so, it killed the man from a brain hemorrhage.”

Kyungsoo’s face fell to a frown. “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Cool, let’s keep it like this.”

“Agreed.” Xanin nodded.

“How come you know how to speak English, though?”

“Oh my, simple things such as language do not come as an obstacle. For I know many and close to all languages and other forms of communication. English is trivial, child’s play in terms of humans, to me. That and many other, _simple_ , things.” A sly smirk bore across their face. “Now, take a look.” They motioned to the well that stood in front of them.

Kyungsoo said not another word, there were so many things he wanted to ask but the better of his conscience told him to stay quiet. Instead, he went on and let a foot step on the water, luminescent green specks of light and small sparks of things floating about his foot, even though the surface he walked was solid. He quickly looked up from the floor and closed his eyes, it was so hard not to question everything that was happening. He then casted his gaze to the well before him and stood on the tips of his toes to get an even better look over the edge. There, a blue and never-ending light filled the well. Braid like strands of a lighter blue floated all about the well; coming from one end and to the other. It was like an abyss of crystal clear water, there was no end the further he stared into its depths. But something drew Kyungsoo near, something deep in his heart stirred with want and it called out to him, wanting him to sink right into the well and never let go. Kyungsoo held a hand to his chest, pushing himself back and stumbling to the solid surface as he did so. His lungs pulsed with heavy breaths, a sweat trickling from the side of his temple as he came to.

“Do you feel that?” Xanin asked in a low voice.

“Yeah.. What the hell was that?”

“Temptation.”

“For what? I don’t.. Understand?”

“In this well, lies your fate. Along with the fate of every other being in this universe, timeline, and realm. This well possesses a power so great that it naturally tempts all who dare come near it. Your subconscious is attracted to the fact that its fate is before it. With the grasp of a hand it can mend itself and shape its own future… In a sense, it is the most dangerous thing in this entire universe. That is why it is kept hidden from all, only myself and my four other equals know of its location. As of right now, there are two more added to that equation… You and Kai. There are plenty who know of its existence, in fact that is why I am at war. For the power of the well. But if it were to fall into the wrong hands, destruction could befall us all.”

Kyungsoo stared at the well from where he stood, not daring to look any more into it.

“Why show me then? Why us?” He finally asked.

“Mostly because I think you needed one more shred of proof, and to motivate you to continue with Kai on his journey.”

“What journey?”

“Well, to save the universe, really.” Xanin smiled wide, baring all their glory down on the human.

Kyungsoo could hardly take in all that he was hearing. He wasn’t even sure if what he was hearing was correct. Maybe he died back at Amy’s summer home, maybe he died that night in the forest hunting for bugs? He was pretty damn sure that all Kai’s journey entailed was to go around to neighboring planets and warn them of the impending end of the universe. Who knew? But he did know that he was on the verge of a panic attack.

“Why me?”

Xanin shrugged and jutted out their bottom lip. “Don’t ask me. That’s what the most powerful being in the universe wants.”

“Who the hell is that?” Kyungsoo dared to question.

“Well.. Basically.. You’d call it Fate.”

“Lemme guess, it’s a concept too complicated for my human brain to grasp.” He stated.

“Now you’re getting it.” Xanin snapped their fingers in amusement.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “So then what’s the point of Fate being in a well if you're here?”

“Oh this? This isn’t Fate. It acts like fate, most definitely. I created it. Well, with the help of Aeon. We created it. Now Koh, Makkūn, Agié, Aeon and myself are the guardians of this. We tend to the strings of fate of all those in this universe.”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but notice you said, “this universe”. Twice now.”

“Yes! You heard correctly. This universe.”

“Well what the hell, are there multiple?”

“Infinite.”

Kyungsoo took a deep breath, Xanin could feel the tension rising in Kyungsoo.

“This universe is constantly growing and expanding, that also means there are infinite numbers of universes since it keeps growing. There are infinite numbers of timelines and infinite numbers of parallel universes. In a sense, the existence of Carn is good for the universe. Like the concept of Life and Death. There are beginnings in ends and ends in beginnings.”

“What the hell is Carn?” Kyungsoo breathed out.

“Carn…? Kai I thought you told him about Carn?”

Kai seemed to freeze in the bow his was in. “My Lord, I did. I did not give it a name though.”

“Oh, well! Carn is basically this giant cloud of black that consumes everything in its path. It has no conscious or though process, just immense power like a black hole. Consuming everything in its path. However, as Carn has recently gotten out of hand, there soon won’t be a universe… This is where I need you, Kyungsoo. I would do this myself, but I must focus my strength and power to protecting this realm. I have been at war for some time now by people who would seek to take control of the fates here. Even now the realm is under siege; I’m using my power to keep you from hearing the battles outside for your sake. People who wholly worship Carn would give the well to let the universe crumble, or others would seek to stop Carn by using it. It is a lovely mixture.”

“Why don’t you?” Kyungsoo snuck his thought in despite the word vomit of questions that nearly wanted to pour out. His heart beat faster against his chest, his breathing eradicating.

“Because you can’t. Messing with the well is catastrophic. No matter how god like I seem, there are some things I just can’t do. The first time I tried to deliberately interfere with the fates, I created Carn. This is a story for another time. _Now_ , there can only be perfection. There is no room for concepts like human error. Perfection is and will always be achieved.” Suddenly Xanin raised his arms, Kyungsoo watched as they disappeared into clouds of blue light again and dove into the well. He stepped forward and looked over to see what Xanin had been doing. Very carefully he could see the outline of a broken string being melded back together, very similarly the way a braid would be intertwined.

“But I thought you couldn’t interfere?”

“This, is not interfering. This is cleansing. Every once in a while.. Here, it’s like the strings get sick and need medicine to get better. This is all we can do to help. Otherwise, we can only protect its existence. Each braid represents a being in the universe, if they break it was most likely an accident and we fix it. If a fate line ends, meaning their existence has perished from this known universe, the line will disappear on its own. That is natural, and we cannot interfere. Breaking is different than ending. The strings will intertwine naturally with others, and brings people together, we cannot force that. Though, of course, there are some rules we can bend. We make sure nothing disrupts the natural flow of what the strings must be.. But as Carn moves on, the well breaks. The realm crumbles. If Carn destroys anymore of the universe, then it’s quite possible the well will not be able to hold itself anymore. It will run too weak to keep the basis of this realm flowing. By the time this runs too weak, it will essentially implode in on itself and cause an even faster destruction of this universe. Once Carn has consumed it, it will move on until everything else is gone. There will be no more infinite number of universes, timelines and parallel universes.. It will get to a point where it can consume faster than the universe can produce.”

Kyungsoo was silent as he watched Xanin remove their hands—blue flames, really—and transform them back into the human-like hands. “...So how.. Do you stop him..?”

“You don’t.” No air of mischief played on Xanin’s voice or face. Kyungsoo’s face ran pale, he was frightened by these words. He then suddenly became conscious of the fact Kai had sat up and was staring at him, who knew how long he had been like that.

“How the hell do you expect _us_ to “ _save the universe_ ” if there’s no way?!” Kyungsoo nearly blew a blood vessel.

“That’s where I come in.” A voice boomed from the opposite end of the hall, closer to the thrones. A door had opened and closed all the same in the corner, revealing another chest barren figure.

“Ah! Dûrhig!”

“You know I hate that name.” The new face seemed to glare from across the room. He dragged something behind him as he wiped a cloth across his body.

Xanin scrunched his nose up teasingly. “Oh it suits you far better than—”

The new person cleared his throat threateningly. Xanin simply smiled in their smug ways.

It only took a few long strides before the golden being had found his way beside Kyungsoo. What looked like a cape being dragged behind him was, in fact, feathered wings. They were attached to his back and stark white when they were not covered in a dark goo like substance which had also covered much of his body. He wiped a chunk on his face and flung it to the ground.

“Ugh, not on the ground. We _just_ had it cleaned.” The ground sizzled and smoked, like the substance was burning through it.

As Kyungsoo watched the substance burn at the ground, Xanin looked at it and the substance blew up into blue flame. He then noticed that the well had completely disappeared, he didn’t even remember it sinking back into the ground. He looked around for moment, trying to tell if he was going crazy but then he looked at Xanin, who seemed to show no sign of knowing anything.

Kyungsoo looked back at the winged humanoid who stood taller than he and Kai but not nearly as tall as Xanin. He wore something golden on his chest that fit the width of his shoulders, his chest bare and sporting no signs of nipples, where Xanin’s did. Torso sculpted into perfectly shaped muscles. His pants were white and balloon like (where they weren’t stained), held at his hips by golden clips and hemmed in red gold against his skin. Large slits ran down his thighs where the clips buckled, exposing toned and golden thigh muscles. It was quite attractive and risqué to Kyungsoo’s eyes. His skin seemed to literally shimmer with gold, as if streams of gold for some reason swam through the underlayer of his skin. His eyes were golden, warm and inviting. Nothing short of approachable despite the snark in his tone towards Xanin. His hair curled loose and long over his eyes, messy, yet perfect in each curl as they trickled to his neck in a dark chocolate color. He was quite a stunning figure. Cheekbones sharp enough to strike through you and lips carved out of crystal hew. He seemed, in all sense of the phrase, “sculpted by gods.”

As Kyungsoo surveyed the new being their eyes locked. The man’s nose for some reason sniffed. He sniffed a second time, harder than the first. By the third sniff the realization hit him.

“You’re human! From Earth! Well I’ll be damned.” The man leaned back and placed his hands on his hips. “You wouldn’t happen to know Huang Zitao would you?!” He was all very excited, his smile almost overbearing to Kyungsoo.

“U-Uh… No.. Sorry I don’t..”

“Ah.. I should have guessed. I’m Hrodûrim, Arduil and Champion of Aeon. Pleasure to meet you.” The being held out a hand wholeheartedly.

“Pleasure’s… All mine? I’m Kyungsoo.. Do Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo reluctantly grabbed the being’s hand and shook it with less than half the effort the other was putting in.

“Kyungsoo.. Kyungsoo..! Must be a common name there. I have a friend… You wouldn’t happen to—? No, he’s way before your time.” The being seemed never ending, it was thought after thought. He tilted his head as he started to thoroughly inspect the human. “Anyways, I have a friend—”

“Okay! That’s enough.” Xanin interjected as if a mother was trying to stop her child from listening to an ‘adult’ conversation. “Did you bring what I asked?”

“Yeah, yeah. Goodness, don’t get your knickers in a twist. You fucking twat. I got it right here.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth dropped at the sudden language, when a knife went flying past both his and Hrodûrim’s nose. Everyone froze in the room, Kai somehow had found himself at Hrodûrim’s neck, holding a knife threateningly close.

“What the..” The winged one went to speak.

“If you dare speak those foul words to Lord Xanin again, I’ll have your head resting on a spike before you could move your finger.” Kai spoke lowly but so terrifyingly so.

“Xan.. Why is there an Allve in your halls, and more specifically why does he know English??”

Kyungsoo really wanted to be asking that. What the fuck did Arduil mean? And why the hell did this alien creature know how to greet a human?  

“This Kai, the one we’ve been discussing and, because of this guy here.” Xanin motioned to Kyungsoo.

“Ah.. Cool.” Hrodûrim pressed a finger on the knife and slowly pushed it away. “Listen, I have absolutely no qualm with Xanin. We’re friends, okay?” He held up his hands, as if to surrender himself. “A threat from an Allve is not to be taken lightly. I had no idea you were Allve.” Hrodûrim laughed awkwardly once the knife was away from his throat.

“Indeed.” Xanin nodded in agreeance. “Kai, Hrodûrim is a friend. Don’t worry.”

Kai immediately settled down and sheathed his knife.

“Um..” Kyungsoo tried to speak up. All attention was put on him. “Shouldn’t you debrief Kai of all this?”

“He’s already been given the details. All he needs now, is the rest of the mission with you. Now, I sent him out to start looking for things to destroy Carn, but I had also been doing my own research.” Xanin spoke. “I wish I could stay longer and help you through this. But I must get going and tend to the other needs of my realm. I don’t expect we’ll ever meet again. As much as I would enjoy new company, it simply was not meant to be… Kai, son of Melanilth’kun, protect him. Solve this mystery and keep him safe.” He put a hand on Kai’s shoulder, Kai found no ability to look the being in the eye. “Kyungsoo. Watch over him. He is strong and protective, but his heart is weak. Push him on. He’ll need all the support you can give him. Keep each other safe, do you hear me? The fate of the universe now lies in your hands… I’ll trust Hrodûrim to give you the next part of this task, as he can better explain its contents.” Xanin looked to Hrodûrim, nodding their head to pass over the responsibility. “Oh, and Kai? Don’t worry about your pills.”

Both Kai and Kyungsoo looked at one another in question.

“Let’s just say I’ve made a few tweaks on your body’s. You’ll be fine without them.” They spoke over their shoulder, just barely making eye contact with the two. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I must attend the front lines.”

Kai bowed his head as Kyungsoo watched the overbearingly tall man walk away. He was not too sure of what just happened, but he was sure it was something important.

“What front lines? Like war?” Kyungsoo asked, turning his attention back to the two.

“Exactly so.” Hrodûrim nodded. “Well, don’t worry about that. You have bigger fish to fry. Leave the war here to us and we’ll leave the universe to you.”

“No pressure.” Kyungsoo chided.

Hrodûrim laughed wholeheartedly. “That’s the spirit! Now…” The tall man turned to his side and dug around for an item. As he pulled it out a breath of air left Kai’s mouth.

“You possess another taurn.” The elf announced as a blue crystal-like item appeared in Hrodûrim’s hand.

“Only a piece.” Hrodûrim smiled as Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in awe. To his eyes, the blue crystal had a slight pink substance that shimmered in its interior. “It broke at some point while it stayed in its previous realm. Even later after it came into proper hands, it was used against a vile creature with the power of Carn infused in it.”

“If you have a piece, then there are more? They can be used?” Kai asked suddenly. His mind racing with all the possible outcomes of his new task.

Hrodûrim nodded. “Correct. There are eight all together. Lost, but there are eight. They might be broken, but just a piece like this will work. It _should_ at least; we were able to make this work. Something smaller may not work, the power it possesses will destroy it, it will overrun itself.”

“If there are eight lost, then what was their original purpose?”

“Ages ago, during the first years that the universe was created, Carn had been accidentally created. In that time, Carn was small but so was the universe. So, an ancient civilization began creating a weapon with the power to destroy it. However, who those people were has long since been lost, what their weapons were and where they resided. I wish I could be of more help, but this is the best we have at stopping Carn. You must find these orbs and the weapon they used. I can link your calus to the first planet, where it is thought this ancient civilization used to thrive, but I can’t give you more than that. It’s up to you to pinpoint its exact location and find the weapon, this is the best I can offer. There are six taurn’s left for you to find, so you have a head start. Whatever it is, you _must_ find it.”

“Wait, wait, what? What do you mean there are six more and we have to find them? And this weapon that nobody knows anything of?” Kyungsoo snapped.

“And no one knows if it’ll even work. It is unclear if it was ever used. It’s possible the weapon was never even finished. Hell, it could be fake for all we know. But what I do know, is that these crystals are a power source that can do some serious damage to Carn. I’ve seen it done with my own two eyes… Well, not really. I wasn’t entirely there so to speak…”

“Wait, are you saying someone warded off Carn with just this crystal?” Kyungsoo asked.

“No, not really.” Hrodûrim chuckled. “A piece of Carn had embedded itself into a mortal, because of their unity it was possible to use the power of the gem to destroy the evil. It was a very intense process, I figure someone will write about it someday. You can read all about it then.” A bright and toothy smile flashed across Hrodûrim’s face.

Kyungsoo shook his head, “I’m sorry, you do realize that this all sounds ridiculous right? Like nothing of this is as easy as you make it sound. This is all complete bullshit.” Kyungsoo made sure his voice was clear and particularly articulate.

“Yes. I’m well aware. But as magical and fantastical as we are, there is only so much we can do to help. This journey is really up to the two of you now.”

Kyungsoo could feel life slowly draining from his being all while anger teetered its way through his veins.

“Trust me, I know more than anyone what it’s like to feel lost. I would give anything to help you more than this _. Believe me_ , I know.”

“But aren’t you gods or whatever??” Kyungsoo’s voice raised, his neck straining as he spoke. “Don’t you have magical powers to do stuff?”

Hrodûrim’s face fell to a frown. “I myself am not so powerful in magic. I’m merely a servant, a warrior, for my master. Xanin, on the other hand is defiantly more powerful than I am. But his power can only reach so far, especially when he must use most of it to protect this realm and tend to the Well. Those that I serve are spreading themselves thin as it is, the risk of even hosting Kai under our halls is high enough.”

“Why, what’s so risky about that?” Kyungsoo tried to ask, however, a violent vibration shook the floor that they stood upon.

“And that’s your cue.” Hrodûrim yelled with enthusiasm as he dashed for Kai and pulled Kyungsoo by his sleeve. He began to fiddle with the device on Kai’s wrist, flashes of bright light had switched between colors to Kyungsoo’s eyes. “Remember, Xanin has gifted you immortality, however, as soon as you leave you will lose all of it. You will not be able to enter these halls without one of the gods to summon you. I should expect I will never see you again, but I will give you my gift of luck. To further any chance of success. Without you, our worlds will fail. Life will fail and all that we love and hold dear will fail. Do you understand?”

Kyungsoo’s face had been pale as he watched Hrodûrim, his wings still flat and dragging along the ground. They were mesmerizing in the way flecks of gold seemed to radiate from them. Kai, on the other hand, was completely firm, listening to each word and diligently following Hrodûrim.

“Good. Now, Xanin has also granted your bodies alterations. Even without the medicine that Kai carries, you can travel between worlds and feel little of its effects. Air too heavy or too thin in oxygen should not affect you. Breathing underwater, however, is out of the question. Gravity should not influence your bodies, nor will foods. Your bodies are now adaptable to your environment. But make sure you take care, you are not safe from everything. Krakatos is prone to heavy acid rainfalls, the water can melt the skin right of your bones. So, take extra care, find shelter the moment you arrive—”

“Krakatos?” Kyungsoo whispered.

“The planet where all of this supposedly started for the weapon.” Hrodûrim turned to Kyungsoo and placed the blue jewel in his hands. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over Kyungsoo as soon as the crystal met his hand, like he wanted to push himself so far from the people around him. It was not a pleasant feeling. “Protect this with your life. I want this back if you can... It belongs to someone precious to me… I do hope to see you guys again, even though that possibility is very unlikely.”

Another violent wave struck the ground, this time a roar of something foreign and destructive sounded after.

“That’s your ex by the way, you best get moving before she gets through.” Hrodûrim pushed them on.

Kai nodded and immediately pulled Kyungsoo by the waist to his side, their hips joined. Kyungsoo was caught off guard by the sudden pull as he was fixed on the broken jewel in his hands.

“I’m sorry what—?”

“Enough talking, go! You must leave!” The angelic being threatened with desperation.

And like each time before, Kai and Kyungsoo had disappeared within a bright luminescent smoke.

 

 

 

Hrodûrim stood in the same spot, staring as the smoke withered into nothing. “Why did you lie to them?” His voice called out in the empty hall.

“I don’t believe I know what you mean.” A voice replied without a body, it was Xanin.

“You know exactly what I mean… Kyungsoo was never supposed to be a part of this.”

“True. But it is for the best.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because Kai’s chance of survival was raised by four percent.”

Hrodûrim could feel the unsettling information shift throughout his being. “And what is the current number then?” He dared to let the question out, for he was very afraid of the answer.

“Five percent.”

Hrodûrim’s face fell to a frown once again, he turned around, aghast at the number. “You mean to tell me that his original chance of survival was one percent?” Xanin had not been present but Hrodûrim knew the god was there, invisible, but there.

“Precisely, but now that Kyungsoo has joined him it will be five percent.”

“What is Kyungsoo’s rate of survival, then?!”

“...negative two percent.” Xanin responded with a tone much softer than before, one that was reluctant.

Hrodûrim was taken aback, the shock of the situation and appall for the being in the room had taken over. He whispered, “You’ve sent them to their death…”

“No, there is still hope, I have seen it and—”

“Seen what?! One of thousands of possibilities to their future’s? Kyungsoo’s life will be over before he can even get to the next crystal… Why couldn’t you add more people to them? Why not give Kai companions that are actually strong and have power?! Kyungsoo was never supposed to be here… This was Kai’s task, and Kai’s task alone.”

“But now he is not alone, and therefore can complete this quest with positive outcomes. Adding more people would have guaranteed death, now there is more chance of survival to complete the task.” A shape of Xanin began to appear in a cloud of smoke, forming into the giant humanoid from earlier.

“So Kyungsoo is just disposable? Why even bother with them if they’re just going to die?! Why not find yourself better champions? You seem to be so keen on changing the fact that Kai’s journey will not be done alone. When you know better than anyone that you just fucked with their timeline and the chain of events that was supposed to happen. This could be catastrophic again, you literally could have killed us all because of how big of change you made to this.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered, Fate has decided that it would be Kai, therefore Kai will find a way to be a part of the end of the universe. With or without us. I just gave a little push to help him along.” Xanin had fully appeared in the body, a smug smile upon their lips as they spoke.

Hrodûrim tilted his head, disgust playing on his features. “‘ _It wouldn’t have mattered_ ’.. It could have been anyone, not just Kyungsoo.” Hrodûrim puzzled together in his head.

Xanin stayed silent, their answer playing in the air as they stared the warrior down.

“No, they’re just kids. I get that Fate has played the biggest part in this, but this is low. Even for you.” His voice had been closer to hostile as their eyes locked.

“God of Mischief.” Xanin’s body evaporated slowly by their feet as an uncomfortable and unsure smile spread their lips.

“To people who made that up about you. You’re not actually a god of mischief. Just because that’s what some call you, doesn’t mean you have to act like it.”

“Hold your tongue.” Xanin snapped, their voice sharp and clear. It was threatening and very much leveled in power.

Hrodûrim quickly looked away, fists balled by his sides. He was very clearly unhappy.

“I am very fond of you and your company. But I do not tolerate insolence. Servant of Aeon.” Xanin spat in a voice that had been far from anything close to Earth.

“My apologizes, my Lord.” Hrodûrim bowed his head, his wings kept down and an air of submission about him. He shot his head up and stared directly in the eyes of the being in front of him. “This universe will perish, and it will have all been for nothing.” He muttered so terribly quiet and so awfully hostile. But he chose not another word and turned on the heel of his foot, walking off and refusing to look back.

A sadness fell over Xanin’s disappearing face as they watched their retreating friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sus
> 
> I wish I was better at making this seem more alien and other worldly like. Like something no one has ever thought of, but we as humans don’t work like that.. How can we think of things from a true other species' perspective, or a god, or whatever. We’ll just never know, everything we write will be influenced by human mannerisms, rituals etc. Nothing will ever truly be completely alien to us because of the lack of experience. then again, it’s just a fic, I don’t need to obsess over that kind of accuracy 
> 
> Now, for Xanin. Xanin is technically an OC but he is based off of Changmin (Max). The same with the other four gods he lives with, they are based off of DBSK (ya know, Rising Gods of the East, it’s a bad comparison, I kno). Yuhno (U-Know) is Kho (leader of their group of gods), Aeon is Jaejoong, Agié is Junsu, and Makkhûn is Yoochun (Micky). All of their character names were created as a rendition of their real names. Except for Junsu’s, which was actually going to be spelt like Age, but I kept pronouncing it like ah-ghee-ey and I just couldn’t keep Age as the spelling. His name comes from the musical progression of A G and E. To me they sounded very pretty when played and thought, yeah, Junsu’s name is supposed to be the most beautiful sound in the universe but no one can recreate it, so Yooch named him. I actually have a lot of lore on Jae, Junsu and Xanin but not on Yunho or Yooch lol. It’s not enough and I still need to develop their stories more (for my sake) but its cool! And I think its cool that Kyungsoo got to meet Kai’s god, idk what you guys think tho lol.
> 
> Hrodûrim is probably my favorite character in this entire series/universe. You’ll see him again and Xanin in another work.
> 
> Fun fact: Xanin's name was supposed to be Ganin, but for some reason I wrote 'Xanin' on everything and when i realized it was the wrong name i was like "welp, yolo."
> 
> pronunciations:  
> Xanin - zan-ihn  
> Hrodûrim - hroe-doo-rihm (r's are rolled) i can say everyone's name's in my head really great, but vocalizing it is like blegh


	8. That he promised to reveal

֍  ҉  ֎

 

Kyungsoo could feel a thick layer of air against his skin and the cool scent of something so familiar against his nostrils. An arm firmly wrapped around his shoulders and anther hand holding his head, secured him against Kai’s chest. For just a fleeting moment Kyungsoo felt odd, like he was so protected that he could stay there for the rest of his life. That thought was _only_ for a moment, but it made his heart ram against his chest.

Kai smelt like bliss, like an orange zested over pine and was showered with all the comforts of the beach. It was an odd analogy, but Kai did have a particularly intoxicating smell; it was just very difficult to explain. It was not an intense pungent smell, but subtle and just enough to make a person want more. The two released themselves from one another, looking around and taking in their surroundings. As soon as Kyungsoo’s face had met with the world around, a wave of impeccable humidity had hit him like wall. It was a depressive feeling, the way it weighed down on his skin and made him feel sluggish and gross.

“Wh-Where are we?” Kyungsoo asked as he looked around the area, foliage of green, purple and red had been overgrown in every direction. Tree’s rose taller than Red Wood and shinned with a glimmer of wetness, like after a fresh rainfall. Leaves stuck out and brushed against their skin and clothes, leaving a tingling feeling as they turned to take in  their surroundings. To Kyungsoo’s right seemed like thick dense jungle, the sounds of animals chirping and maybe bugs singing had been mostly concentrated in that direction. To his left and behind Kai had been a fair amount of open space. Like they were on an overgrown path since the trees seemed to clear above that area the most. Vines fell from branches and cascaded all about them, shapes and sizes varied in the way they grew. Bright orange flowers bloomed across the way, at the bottoms of trees and supported a smell so sweet that it masked the stench of natural jungle decay. Small luminescent microorganisms lined the bark of certain trees, so each time something moved close to it, they glowed. It really seemed other worldly, with the shapes of leaves and their varying sizes.

“This is Krakatos…” Kai muttered as he seemed just as in awe as Kyungsoo. He truly had never seen such large vegetation. It made him nervous to think about what kinds of fauna would turn up.

Suddenly, a branch had snapped beside the males; they both whipped their heads to the source. Before they could see what it was, the bushes ruffled and a high-pitched squeal ran off in the other direction.

Kyungsoo backed away from the bushes and found himself tripping over an overgrown root. Kai’s quick and strong arm both rescued and stood the human back up. Kyungsoo stood there, still a little surprised at the fact that he had just fallen and was saved in an instant, but mostly to stare at Kai and remember all the thoughts that had been angering him just before they arrived. He ripped himself from Kai’s arms and stepped back.

Kai’s brows furrowed, “Are you alright?” He asked in a careful tone, observing the sudden change in hostility.

Kyungsoo’s gaze was firm, threatening almost, and it made Kai do something that Kyungsoo had never seen before. It made him avoid eye contact. Kai looked away and bore an expression so similar to guilt that it surprised Kyungsoo for a moment, but it dissuaded him no less from his cause. It appeared that Kai knew why he was so mad.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” Kyungsoo’s voice came out low and not in the least bit kind. It made Kai flinch. “You lied. You utterly and blatantly lied to me. Going around and warning planets of this… This.. Carnage or whatever the fuck you call it! It was a lie! You were sent to Earth on purpose, to find Amy’s necklace! And you’re ex? What the fuck was that slip about your ex? I thought she was dead! What bullshit are you hiding Kai? Is that even your real name?” He added the last part with a feign of scornful curiosity.

“Kyungsoo, I ask that you please calm down—” He reached out to hold Kyungsoo, but the smaller had ripped himself away violently, as he found the human’s words to leave a bitter feeling in him.

“No! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.” Kyungsoo shook his head and turned on his heels. He was afraid he would start crying, and the last thing he wanted was to cry over something so stupid. But with the sudden turn of events he wasn’t so sure he was mentally prepared for any more surprises. Especially since he knew he was starting to feel his heart do things he never intended for the alien, and if those developed even more, he knew he’d be more disappointed. There was so much going through his small head that as he walked away he could barely care to listen to Kai’s calls.

“Kyungsoo! Where are you going?!”

“To find shelter! Isn’t that what that guy said?” He snapped as he moved on.

Kai immediately followed the male, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

“Don’t touch me!” Kyungsoo shouted as he tried to fight against Kai’s hands.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Kai yelled over Kyungsoo’s fighting.

But before either of them could continue, a few drops of mildly warm rain had fallen onto their arms. The rain stung slightly on Kyungsoo’s skin and made him suck in a sharp breath of air. Without further notice, rain suddenly began to downpour. There was a moment the two looked at one another and had the same “oh no” kind of thought. But in the next split second, a searing pain began to drench itself over Kyungsoo’s skin. He shut his eyes tight as they began to burn, as if onions were directly rubbed onto them.

Kyungsoo screamed so vulgarly loud and stumbled out of Kai’s arms. He could not see it as the pain in his eyes was fierce, but his skin was beginning to singe away the more the rain fell and ate away at the layers. The pain was unlike any other he had ever felt as it tore all over his body.

Kai screamed for the human the moment he stumbled away and noticed as the skin burned. Kai ran over just before Kyungsoo lost consciousness and wrapped an arm around his back, holding him limply as the other hand raised to the sky. That hand produced a stream of light, it rose up from the palm of his hand and fell around them, serving as protection from the rain. His own skin had burned, but the effects were not nearly as severe.

The pain level had been so great to Kyungsoo’s already frazzled mind that as he tried to stay awake, he could see the worry crease across the elf’s face. But it was not long before all had gone dark.

 

֍  ҉  ֎

 

Kyungsoo woke in a stupor, a good one that is, as his body felt so calm and so serene. He almost felt like he was home, in his bed, surrounded in his sheets, and refusing to get up even though the sunlight seeped in through the blinds. But as he opened his eyes, he was met with a very dark room; the crackle of a fire had been off to his side. He lifted his head and noticed the space he was in was enclosed and dark, save for the fire beside him. Kai was nowhere to be seen, just a long hall that had an occasional blue light illuminating small spaces. It seemed far, like it led down a never-ending hall and the blue lights continued.

He sat up and waited for a moment of hurt, but there was none and it was the oddest thing; did he imagine all of that unbearable pain earlier? He rubbed his eyes and found that they were fine, nothing was out of the ordinary. He lifted his arms and found that there was nothing there, even though his skin felt like it was tearing apart earlier, there was absolutely no mark. What he _did_ notice was the fact he was not wearing the same clothes from before, these were dark in the little light the fire provided and were a bit rough to his skin. They were not terribly comfortable; almost like scrubs with the way they fit his figure, baggy and wide. It mostly looked like a kimono’s under garment, minus the folds of cloth under the arms. The same dark cloth covered him like a blanket and a pile acted as his pillow. It was all purposeful to make him comfortable, but he did not remember any of it.

Suddenly, the sound of something like claws pattering against the floor and running away scared Kyungsoo.

“Kai!” He called out in a rather raised voice, hoping there would be an answer. He called out again, this time braver so Kai could hear him if he was out there. He shifted all around, turning each way to see where the male might have been. To his right and left sides were dark, cold and eerie spaces of blank; his back was against a wall as he was perched on a small ledge of some sort. Leaving the long hall and trail of blue lights in front of him.

“Ahhh.. Kai where are you…” Kyungsoo muttered as he shrank back against the wall and held the blanket close to himself. Even if it could hardly offer any protection, the warmth was still needed.

Just as he kept his head up and on the lookout for Kai, a figure had emerged from the unending hall in front of him. There must have been a passage off to the side, but Kyungsoo could not see it. Immediately his heart was put to rest as he noticed the bright white locks of hair as it sprinted down the hall. A torch had been held in his hand, but as he ran over and passed each blue light they grew brighter with color and intensity, lighting the whole way over. Kyungsoo could now see what looked like metal-work on all four walls of the hall, top and bottom included. It was as if the structure was constructed of pure metal.

“Kai?!” Kyungsoo involuntarily yelled upon the sight of the alien and tossed the cloth to run for him.

They met almost halfway, closer to the small campsite than anything, but when they did Kyungsoo wrapped his arms securely around Kai’s torso. Kai was completely baffled by the sudden contact, not knowing what to do with his free hand for a moment but eventually placed it gently on top of the human’s head. Kyungsoo would never admit to how scared he felt in those last few moments alone and the desperation to see him, so he held him close. It may have had something to do with the fact that Kai was the closest thing to home right now and he needed some serious comfort from the chaos in his head, but those thoughts didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Kai was touching him gently and he already felt comforted.

“You should be resting.” Kai said to break the silence, Kyungsoo was reluctant to let go.

Kyungsoo did not respond and simply kept his face nestled in the taller’s bosom. “You can’t just leave me alone like that. I have no idea of where I am and don’t know anything outside of Earth.” He mumbled into the alien’s chest.

“I’m… Sorry. I wanted to scout the area while you rested… I should have been more present. But.. I am glad to see you are well.” Kai’s voice came out soft and endearing. It was another voice Kyungsoo had never experienced from the alien. It made his heart thrum against his chest and cheeks turn red. Oh how he hated to admit to these growing feelings.

Eventually, Kai had separated them and lead Kyungsoo back to the bed by his hand. He sat him down and kept his hand in Kyungsoo’s, placing his other on top as soon as they were comfortable.

“Are you hungry?”

“No, why? How long was I out for?” Panic suddenly ran through Kyungsoo’s veins.

“Just for a couple hours, I wanted to make sure you weren’t hungry. You haven’t eaten in a while. I’m not sure if anything here is edible enough for you, though. Xanin’s powers can only do so much to keep you alive.. Especially, since you had such a harsh reaction to the rain… Had Xanin not gifted you with resilience, you would have perished within seconds…”

“I—”

“Kyungsoo.” Kai interrupted. “I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to be given this task, and I never wanted any of this for you. I _did not_ think it would be _you_.. I dare not defy my god… But… For your safety and your sake, I would do it… I would bring you home rather than take you on this journey… Humans are so weak, so vulnerable to sickness and possess very little to protect themselves. This.. I don’t think I have the power to keep you safe. Had I acted any slower, I might have lost you to this rain… But Do Kyungsoo. I am fond of you. And taking on this task alone is frightening to my mind. If I was meant to do it alone, I don’t think I could. But with you by my side, I would have courage to do it… I wouldn’t nearly feel as lost with you by my side.” He paused to give himself a moment and gather his thoughts. “I understand… If you do not want this, and the moment I finish explaining to you the truth of my life.. I will gladly take you home. You have a chance of a longer life than if you stay with me, so I more than understand your predicament.”

Kyungsoo’s cheeks felt hot, and red they were with embarrassment. He hated confrontation more than anything and this situation was no less different. He looked down at their connected hands, it felt odd in this position, as if it was out of character for Kai. And he was right, this was not something Kai or any of his people would do to comfort someone. He was simply trying his hand at being more human for Kyungsoo.

“Kai.. I don’t know—”

“No.” He interrupted again. “Maybe it is because I am afraid of your answer, but… You should not have to answer just yet… At least…wait until I’ve finished my tale?”

Kyungsoo sighed with a firm gaze, “As long as what you say is the truth and nothing but the truth.”

“I promise.” Kai said as his eyes locked with the human, then he raised a hand to Kyungsoo’s chin. A thumb and index finger held onto it gently. “If you hold mine like this, then I will seal the bond of our promise. Then I cannot lie to you until the story is over.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and tilted his head at the action, his heart nervously thumped against his chest but continued to raise a hand anyways. As they sat there holding each other’s chins, Kai closed his eyes and whispered a few words. Kyungsoo watched as his finger lit up on Kai’s chin and he could see the light emanating from his own chin in his peripheral. His body suddenly began to hum, a buzz radiating about as a tingling feeling started at his toes and worked its way quickly to his chest. It disappeared within a moment and Kai retracted his hand. Kyungsoo did the same soon after.

“Now I cannot tell a lie.”

Kyungsoo nodded, he felt a little guilty that he had gone through such measures, but he just wanted to trust Kai.

“I want to apologize first, for raising my voice at you. Allve are not prone to anger or to act on emotion so blatantly. I.. I don’t know what came over me. So, I really must apologize for my shameful behavior.”

“It wasn’t shameful for me, honestly, I’d be more upset if you didn’t show any kind of emotion. I’d think you wouldn’t care about how I felt… So.. Thanks for caring? I guess.” Kyungsoo shrugged.

Kai nodded, “Then, is there anything you would like to know before I go ahead?”

“Yeah.. Why were you sick? If I didn’t let your god help you, it seemed like you would die..”

“Do you not wish to know about your burns and clothes first?” Kai questioned.

Kyungsoo simply shook his head, “I figured you had something to do with it. I wasn’t that surprised..” He then insisted with his previous question.

“Do you remember the pill I made you swallow before we left Earth? That was the last of my supply. My people created a medicine that would help Hopper’s as they traveled planet to planet. Hopper’s being the translation for those who possess calus’s and travel with them.” He raised his arm to present the device on his wrist. “It is a profession that requires extensive training of body and mind. This medicine is infused with the magic of our people and allows our bodies to adapt to almost any environment. That means air pressure, gravity and in some cases food and water as many things can be poisonous. We call it, the Resilience pill. I had only two left when we found each other; their effects last about five Earth days in one go, so I had to use them sparingly and save the last for the most crucial moment of travel. I gave you the last pill, just in case the environment we traveled to did not favor to your body. I did not know that Xanin would interfere and take us to his home. Now, we do not need them anymore.”

“So your body was reacting normally to the planet then?”

“Yes, everything was playing a toll and my ability to absorb the necessary nutrients to live was reduced.”

“Why…! Why didn’t you tell me?! I would have helped you get what you needed! You should have left me, and taken the damn pill. I’m half tempted to not even feel bad for you because that was stupid of you.” Kyungsoo exclaimed.

“I did not want to leave you to those people. I know less of your people than you do, but they did not seem accommodating in any way possible. I was afraid they would hurt you… So, I took you with me. I apologize for not telling you beforehand, and I apologize for making you worry about my health. Your hospitality has always and is still greatly appreciated.”

Kyungsoo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright fine. Then why me? Why am I the one who _has_ to be with you through all this?”

Kai stayed silent for a moment.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why it’s you. That’s just how it is, this is what Xanin has wished and this is what he believes a force greater than his own has chosen… I guess, I’ll just start here then.. From the beginning and how it all lead to you, to our meeting.”

The tone Kai had used seemed drained, like he was slowly becoming more and more tired with each of his passing thoughts. This made Kyungsoo sit back against the wall of the ledge and make himself comfortable, it seemed like it would be a long story. And he was right. A long sort of monologue it was.

“My name _is_ Kai, Prince Moka’inim Akimai’ith, second born of the High King of Eleto and first for the crown. That all of which I have told you is true. What I left out is that I am banished from my home, exiled to an indefinite period… My banishment caused me to run, far away from my home and further than any planet I had ever dared to travel. A normal crystal to power a calus should last nearly a quarter of a Hopper’s travel life. But because I traveled so far and so much, I used mine in an eight of that time. I left unexpectedly and with only the clothes on my back; I never stayed in the same place for more than a couple of days, because I was being chased. And I have not the heart to face my sins and let what was and _is_ still chasing me destroy me once and for all, it is the only justice I deserve.

“In my travels of running from what hunts me, my calus led me to Xanin. He had personally chosen me in the midst of hopping and brought me to his home. He warned me of the imminent danger of the universe and its entirety and trusted me with finding the orbs to destroy Carn, once and for all... Eleto is close to its demise, Carn is not far off and is rapidly multiplying. It’s only a matter of time before my home planet is consumed. Although I am banished, I would do anything to save her. I love my people, I love my home… So, I accepted the task. But Xanin made it a point that I could not do it alone. He had seen in my future another being, one that would help me, he could not tell me who and that I had to find them. So, as he sent me back out to look for solutions, I ran into you; I had just transported from Xanin to Earth. Meeting you and realizing that my device was near broken I thought I would never be able to complete my task. I never would have known, though, that I would need you by the end of our time on Earth. I had no idea this would be our fate. I promise you.” Kai leaned in and rested a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. His eyes were firm and glinted softly with the fire that burned just to the side. Kyungsoo could feel his heart constrict staring into those beautiful golden eyes. He simply nodded in response, believing that this was true.

Kai removed his hand from his shoulder and looked down at his lap before continuing.

“...What hunts me is Aleyth. The woman you saw in my memories.”

Kyungsoo stiffened upon the memory, of feeling the happiness and hurt when looking upon her. Suddenly, the guilt he remembered feeling did not seem so out of place—there was finally a connection. But then he remembered seeing himself wrapped in a blanket and felt his body grow hot with embarrassment. He shut the thought down and berated himself, thinking that this was Kai’s moment to talk and it was important he paid attention.

“Except she is not that anymore. Aleyth… Called upon the Darkness. I’m sorry, you’ll have to forgive my translations. I’ve been doing my best to translate words that I would normally use as nouns in my tongue. English is simple, yet complex in that there are many words to define the same thing. I hope you understand them..”

“Oh, it’s fine. I think I get the gist of it.” Kyungsoo quickly slipped in and waved the male off.

Kai nodded, “Then.. The Darkness. We call it Hekai. Amanen Hekai. The Consumption of Darkness… It is a dark power that consumes everything in an Allve. Created by my people and used only by our people… My people were once weak and had been granted the gift of magic by Xanin to protect ourselves from foreign enemies. And as we developed this magic to be entirely our own, it came with a great cost. Darkness had awoken and would consume the Allve who brooded in negative emotions. Over the millennia it transformed into its own entity and now calls out to my people, tempting them when they fall into a dark state of mind. Some willingly let it in, but most do their best to fight it away. To let it consume you means death; the Darkness will consume you in the end, no matter the circumstance. You will become immensely more powerful for a time, but in the end, the power will grow, and the host will be consumed by the power. The darkness will then get sent back into the void it came from and fester until it is ready for more hosts. Hekai is dangerous. And when an Allve has accepted Amanen Hekai, it tends to be out of revenge. Sending rage upon cities and innocent lives…. This is what had happened. Aleyth accepted Hekai and targeted me. It resulted in the both of us being banished from Eleto, but as soon as I left, she gathered a ship and began to trace me through the galaxies. And somehow, she had found me in Xanin’s realm just now. Who knows how long it will be before she finds me again… Her intention is to destroy me, to end my life and make sure I never see the light of day… If she captures us or you and uses you as bait, I don’t know what will happen. Both of us will die in the end and I understand if you do not want that... I have been running from her for almost three years now, to human standards, and the Darkness still has not consumed her. There has never been a recorded case in history of someone surviving so long, it should have consumed her within a month. Now, her power grows with every minute that she looks for me… Kyungsoo to finish this quest with me means to be hunted by her, the chance of escape is almost zero.. I will understand if you do not wish for this.”

“Why is she hunting you?” Kyungsoo asked with a small voice. It came out rasped and low, it seemed as if he could barely find any words to speak.

“Because I murdered her father.” Kai looked up to stare at Kyungsoo. Their eyes met and a sadness of guilt laced them so fiercely that Kyungsoo nearly wanted to wrap his arms around the male and tell him that everything would be alright. “I loved her. With every part of my soul. She may have loved me, even. But as fate would have it, we did not have happiness in our end.

“It started with my brother. The eldest of two, rightful heir to the throne. He had been murdered, right before my eyes. I held him in my arms as his final breath left his body… It is difficult to kill an Allve. We can selfheal in seconds, but a paralyzing poison could do the trick, even if another tried to help heal. There was nothing I could do…” Kai scrunched his face and curled a fist as he looked back down into his lap. It seemed the memories were something of a trigger, something that both angered and saddened him.

Kyungsoo raised a still hand and placed it gently on Kai’s shoulder. The alien froze and somehow immediately began to calm down. Kyungsoo noticed that Kai did this a lot and wondered if it was an Allve thing, that, and he hoped it would calm the elf down—which it did. Thankfully.

Kai took a sharp breath of air into his lungs and squared his shoulders. He gazed into Kyungsoo’s eyes, something desperate screaming on the inside.

“You don’t have to talk about it…” Kyungsoo muttered.

“I have to. I want you to know.” He spoke with utter surety.

“No, if it hurts, you really don’t have to.” Kyungsoo pressed and tightened his grip on Kai’s shoulder.

Kai grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and removed it from his shoulder. “I want to.” His voice was softer, gentle even and Kyungsoo could swear he saw a glimmer in his eyes—like they had gotten brighter.

Again, a wave of heat flushed over Kyungsoo’s body and he was taken in by the majesty of the alien before him. Kai held onto his hand for the rest of the story, not letting go and firmly grasping it with both hands in a fashion that made both his thumbs rest on top of the small petite hand.

“My brother loved me like any other. He watched over me so closely that it was almost overbearing. Most would be annoyed by his presence... But my brother had always wanted an older sibling and tried to be the older sibling to me that he would have wanted. When I was born he did everything in his power to include me in everything. He was probably the most prominent figure in my life, and I did not mind it. I loved my brother, so very much. He was the one who taught me to use my calus.” He motioned to the device on his arm. “We would hop between worlds once I started getting the hang of it and would explore all sorts of different civilizations. We often found ourselves in a lot of trouble,” he chuckled. “But it wasn’t anything we could ever get out of… But one day… We had been walking the city of Portan. On a dying planet far off in the fifth quadrant. It is a dirty place, filled with pollution, and crime. It’s what you would call, ‘a melting pot’ of species… We were in disguise that day, as princes of one of the most renowned species in the universe, it’s important for us to keep a rather low profile… No one was supposed to know that we were there. But as we were just walking down an alleyway to get away from the hoard of people in the market, someone had walked by and pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the side. It was poisoned heavily in Targan blood, a paralysis poison that is strong enough to kill in seconds. Had a human been injected they would have died in three seconds. It took two minutes of watching my brother’s body shut down and watch as life left his eyes… I was driven with anger and chased after the culprit before I cradled my brother to his death. But the creature had already killed itself before I could get to it… It was someone part of the Gona, a highly revered assassination organization, I knew this from the insignia on a piece of paper in their hand. Someone had hired him, someone knew that we would be traveling and hired an assassin to kill my brother. Driven with anger, I took his body home and summoned a council to find out who had done it.” What he did not tell Kyungsoo was that he had teleported between worlds to the throne room of his home, right in the middle of an important meeting of rulers around Eleto. He never mentioned the tears and screams he wailed for his brother there.

“Aleyth.. She was my brother’s lover. Her father was a renowned merchant and the mightiest of them, so their meetings were frequent at gatherings… From a young age we were all in each other’s lives, we were well known for being a troublesome trio. But as we grew older, my brother and her fell in love. But I loved her too. Despite their soul’s being bound to one, I still loved her. She would have been queen with my brother, and a great one at that. My father had no objections to it, and I had to bite my tongue and support their love. I did, I truly was happy for them, but part of me was greedy and wanted her to myself… When word got out that my brother was dead, I had been her source of comfort. We were each other’s ‘rock’ as you would say. That was how we became closer and she eventually learned to love me as well. To most it may have been fake and that I was the ‘rebound’ but I do believe at some point she did care for me as I did for her… In my culture, once you are soul bound to a person you can never bind to another. Because her and my brother were bound, I knew we could never be together. But it was something I was willing to risk for her.”

“Wait, it’s not like a fate thing? Like fate brings you together and you find your one true love?”

“Nothing is certain how our love works, but once you share this bond…it is forever. It is rare to find adultery in my people, and bonds cannot be broken easily, it takes a great power and a great deal of time to break a bond if one is made. Even death does not break the bond, but something is lost. Because of this lost feeling, it is possible for the heart to love another. It will never be the same as who you were bound with, but there is a love.

“Over the course of a few years, we grew closer and were able to create very fond memories. But I had made a mistake towards the end… I was still upset that my brother’s murder was not resolved. I felt like my father was doing nothing in his power to solve the murder, so I took things into my own hands… I had discovered the contractor. Or at least who I thought it was… Everything had led to Aleyth’s father. It was hard to piece together, but my results, no matter how much I tried to disprove them, had found way back to him. Each time I pieced the information together and it led to him, I grew angrier. My blood boiled with the thought that we had trusted this man and brought him into our home and allowed him to feed our people… Driven by this anger I went to my father and demanded the detainment of Aleyth’s father.. My father laughed in my face and said that what I had found was wrong, he did not believe a single word of what I had to say. Instead, he told me to focus on preparing myself to take over the crown. It would take years for me to get to the level my brother had gotten to… Infuriated with my father, I took matters into my own hands. I left in the middle of the night and snuck into the Eri’intalen household. There… I had slit the throat of Raruren Eri’intalen, father of Aleyth Eri’intalen.”

A small gasp left Kyungsoo’s lips. He knew that the story would eventually lead to this, but hearing it was something different.

“He was found the next morning by Aleyth. The kingdom was in a roar and I was just waking up when guards knocked on my door to arrest me.” Kai’s voice began to lower, the shame in his voice physically hurt Kyungsoo to hear, like a bad case of second hand embarrassment. “I made no real attempt to hide that I did it, and many people had seen me climb into the house. But most just thought I was visiting Aleyth in the night… I was brought before my father, restrained and dulled of my powers. I was put on trial in my nightwear.” A sadistic laugh left his lips. “I had no remorse then. I felt like justice had been made finally.. But when the trial started and Aleyth walked in, her hair was a mess and eyes stained red and her skin a sickly gray color, I knew in that moment that I had made a mistake… Over and over I apologized in my head, I had desperately wished the use of time traveling was not banished and that the magic still existed. I wanted to reverse what I had done. I selfishly thought of myself and my dead unavenged brother that I did not care for the justice of Aleyth… But as my trial came to an end, I was under house arrest with my powers stripped until another trial could be held… I was like that for months. And in that time, Aleyth had been allowing the Darkness to consume her… She had been driven by grief over the loss of her lover and her father. Her mother had died in childbirth, so she was alone. Utterly alone. The Darkness might have been a friend of hers for a long time, maybe even before my brother’s death. But it stood off to the side waiting for her to waiver, until the final straw. And that was me, the new love she thought she could move on with who killed her father. A betrayal like no other… And as she morphed with the power, she came for me. Destroying my room and lifting the magic that repressed my powers… I could not escape from her power and she just… She demolished everything in her path, portions of the city had been destroyed and innocent lives were lost that day as I ran from her. But the authorities were eventually able to contain her, and we were then both put on trial again. Her immediate punishment was banishment for letting the Hekai into her body. I was then also banished as the council and people thought that Aleyth would not rest with her darkness and would come for me despite the banishment… Since I was part of the cause of her Hekai, the murder of her father and destruction of much of the city, I was sentenced to banishment… Not long after, I was transported to Xanin’s realm and found you even sooner after… I kept this from you because how could I trust you? I was sworn to secrecy and I knew nothing of you and your species, there was no way I could tell you all that when we first met. I had to come up with a lie.”

“I get that… I really do. But you learned a lot about me and humans after that didn’t you? Didn’t you trust me, even a little?” Kyungsoo nearly pleaded, like he wished desperately for the outcome to be different. But the past could not change and it saddened him.

“I am.. sorry… I had hoped to spare you of my life after we developed our friendship, but instead, you just got even more involved.” Kai offered a weak smile.  

Everything felt particularly quiet, just the sound of the fire popping and the white buzzing noise of the hall. Kyungsoo would rather dropped the topic and not dwell on the pain of being lied to.

“…Did he do it?” Kyungsoo asked in a soft voice.

“What?”

“Did her father order the murder?”

Kai’s head fell with a shake, “My evidence never proved inconclusive. But the Court and investigations showed otherwise. I don’t know.”

Kyungsoo nodded in understanding and fiddled with their hands, holding onto Kai’s thumbs and running his fingers over the soft, yet dense skin.

“Kyungsoo. I can’t ask you to continue with me. I do not possess the right. You now know why I am hunted, and that your future seems to have a certainty of death if you continue with me… I can ask no more of you from this moment on.”

Kyungsoo did not know how to respond and bit his tongue back. There was so much that Kai revealed, and it made him relieved in a weird sort of way.

“My dad left when I was seven.” Kyungsoo suddenly interjected with his word vomit of thoughts. “Well, he didn’t leave, more like, kicked my mother and I out and made us live on the streets until we got to my grandma’s house… So… I didn’t kill anyone nor do I have a murdered brother.. You know what, I can’t even properly relate to anything you just said. But.. I know what it’s like to be kicked out of your own home. A place you thought you could feel safe in, when it would just as easily get rid of you.”

“I don’t.. Understand what this has to do with—?”

“What I’m saying is.. I’m trying to empathize with you, damn it. Humans tend to do a thing where when a person confides in another, the other confides in them. That’s how relationships work. You know, give and take, and repeat…” Kyungsoo stared the elf down, his chin tilted down hoping the male would get it. “You know? Make our bond stronger or something?”

Kai still seemed confused as to what Kyungsoo’s story had to do with the current problem.

“Never mind,” Kyungsoo waved off. “Okay. Let’s do this. How about I help you find the orb, or whatever, in this place and we’ll see how I feel after that. Okay?”

Kai seemed to lighten at this. He straightened his back and grew a small smile on his plump lips.

“It’s not like I can just go back anyways. I’m probably a wanted man. I might as well be banished.” Kyungsoo grumbled as he turned away and rolled his eyes.   

“Then we can be banished together.” Kai quipped as Kyungsoo stood to his feet.

Kyungsoo whipped around to Jongin with wide unexpected eyes. A gentle smile had graced Kai’s features.

“Empathy. Give and take.” He smiled a bit wider and this pulled at Kyungsoo’s heart so terribly so.

“You’ll be the end of me.” He mumbled ever so softly under his breath and quickly turned away. “Okay, so let’s get started. Where are we?”

“You must rest first.” Kai stood up and placed his hands on the smaller’s shoulders, trying to guide him back to sit.

“I feel fine, really I do.” He tried to brush the taller off, but it was difficult when Kai seemed to be at least ten times stronger. “.. Thank you. For what you did. Thank you for making the pain go away.”

“Of course.” Kai bowed his head forward and placed a hand over his nearly bare chest.

Kyungsoo blushed for the millionth time and quickly changed the subject. “Where are my clothes though?”

“The rain ate away at them. They were covered in holes and soaked up the water which furthered the acceleration of skin decay on your body. I had to remove them and replace them with these. I found them in a room down the hall.”

Kyungsoo had half a mind to yell and be embarrassed about the fact that Kai had seen him naked but there were probably a lot of other things much more important than that.

“Where are we?”

“One of the ruins in the earth. They go for miles below the surface, most likely created by a highly advanced civilization in the early years of the universe. It’s been abandoned for much longer than it was inhabited… It’s possible the change in the ecosystem was what drove them out, that, or something else. Something more dangerous.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“There have been little signs of wear on the ground or in some of the rooms that I have ventured. That, or the materials that make up the ruin are more resistant than I thought.”

“So then what do we do? Follow the ruin to the center of the earth?”

“It may help us find what we need. But I do not know what we’re looking for, it’s entirely possible we won’t need to travel so far. Also.” Kai’s face turned to stone, like something had been gravely wrong. This unsettled Kyungsoo. “Something moves in the lower levels. I feel its dark presence and hear its numbers. They scurry around, like claws scraping on the metal.”

“What are they?”

“I don’t know. I dared not leave you alone for too long.”

Kyungsoo finally sat back down on the ledge. His body succumbing to the hardness and overall defeat that was starting to creep up on him. He looked over at Kai, not daring to ask of what they should do again. For all he wanted was to sit home watch a movie and eat buttered popcorn, now. It was more mentally exhausting to be in the movie plot than to be watching it. He sighed out.

“I see your clothes made it.” Kyungsoo spoke with a tinge of snark.

“My clothes are made of a very durable fiber. The effects were not nearly as intense as yours.”

Kyungsoo snickered and cursed how beautiful the man was in his all white, revealing outfit.

“Kyungsoo…” Kai suddenly spoke, it grabbed the male’s attention with a perk of his head. “Would you be upset if I showed you your reflection?”

“No, why?” Kyungsoo raised a brow.

“Eleth an.” He spoke clearly and most gracefully as a bright light appeared in his hands. He held up the light and watched as it formed to Kyungsoo’s face, showing color and every little detail of what Kyungsoo looked like in that exact moment.

Kyungsoo was taken aback by the magic, but even more so by the status of his hair. His eyes widened, and a gasp emitted from his lips as he raised his hands slowly to touch the strands of hair, or lack thereof.

“My hair..” He whispered as he picked up a long strand and watched as it fell in the sea of other mismatched pieces. His hair had been distorted, almost completely bald in some patches.

“Humans are rather… Fond of appearances, I’ve come to learn. I thought it best you knew..”

“...I-I.. I don’t even know what to do.” Kyungsoo breathed out. “I have to just shave it all off if I want it to be even.”

“Would you like me to do it?” Kai added quietly.

Kyungsoo thought to himself, playing with the strands of loose hair. “...Can you?”

“I have a knife, it will not be hard to take it all off.”

Kyungsoo looked up at Kai with sorrow filled eyes. He might as well do it, it wasn’t like he could magically grow his hair back.

“Wait! You can’t make hair grow, can you?” Kyungsoo blurted when the idea went by his head.

Kai chuckled, “No, I am sorry. I would have tried a while ago if I could… But I can create an illusion so that when people see you, you have hair.”

Kyungsoo seriously thought about it for a moment, but quickly dismissed it. “Nah, don’t waste your powers like that.”

“I would not mind.” Kai suddenly added.

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No, no. It’s fine.. You can cut it off.”

Kai stood up and pulled out the silver dagger that he had used so long ago to slit Kyungsoo’s neck.

“No, wait..” Kyungsoo quickly interjected.

“Is something the matter? You told me to cut it.”

“Yeah, but.. I dunno.. Yeah, just do it, it’ll grow uneven and it’ll just look bad. Just do it!” He said more for himself, really.

“Right. I will be gentle.”

It was then the thought of Kai not making any physical notice to the change in his appearance that his cheeks began to feel warm again. He looked like a complete buffoon, and yet, Kai did not seem at all bothered by it. A light smile crept up on his lips as he turned around for Kai. He would be forever grateful to the alien for that.


	9. And saved me from perils

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: public masturbation and a bit of gore in this chapter

֍   ҉   ֎

“You keep touching it.”

“It’s a weird feeling! I can’t stop running my hand through it.” Kyungsoo snorted, “Through? More like on. I don’t have hair anymore.”

The two had been walking side by side down the hall, Kai holding the torch he had made earlier and Kyungsoo running his hand through his hair every second he had. His hair was sporting a solid buzz cut, a surprisingly even one despite it being done with a dagger. Leave it to the perfection of a space elf to get the job done.

Most of their journey down the hall was spent in silence, mostly because Kyungsoo was tense and straining to hear for even the smallest of noises out of place. Despite the fear of not seeing beyond the darkness in front of him, he was still fascinated with the way the blue lights would automatically turn on when they were close enough. It was no magic that Kai possessed that turned it on, it was part of the mechanical system that had been abandoned for eons, yet still functioning as if it had been around for just a couple of years.

The end of the hall had been shorter than the two had anticipated, they had come upon a room that was wide and spacious, lit up in the light blue color of the machines. In the center of the cavernous room sat a pedestal, sloped to the ground like a shallow amphitheater. A bridge rose above the pedestal, a thin one, but it connected the two sides.

“It’s an elevator.” Kai suddenly said after only taking a glance. Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and saw that it was no normal elevator.

“Ah, like one of those video game elevators where you just float down?”

Kai had not responded and noticed that there had been a control panel just before them, right at the cusp of the thin bridge. On the other side of the bridge had been a similar set up, the same control panel in the shape of the pedestal in the center of the room.  

Kai had fiddled with the panel in front of him, pressing buttons that appeared on nothing, hovering like holograms. Their orange and pink symbols rippling every time he would press a button.

“Do you know what it says?” Kyungsoo asked as he looked around his shoulder.

“Not quite. This is a very ancient language with no basic structure. It’s very complex to piece together by just a control panel. They look more like hieroglyphics than a structured language.” He shot his head up and looked at the other panel. “Kyungsoo, stay here, and press this symbol when I say so.”

Kyungsoo nodded and watched as Kai’s white hair flowed easily across the bridge, the light jingle of his earrings and hair pieces fading the further he got.

Kai fiddled for a moment until he gave the signal (a simple yell across the reverberating room). They pressed their hands against the buttons and listened as the room around them groaned with the crashes and shifts of metal. It was a terrifying sound, not knowing if the room would cave in on them.

“To the center!” Kai yelled as he pointed to the pedestal below them.

Both immediately ran from their spots and down a ramp that led to the center pedestal. It was not a perfect circle with the way the ramp twirled into the center, rather, structured so that a hard edge would jut out, much like the shape of a hexagon.

The two ran down their respective ramps, a ramp having led down by each end of the bridge and followed the twirl on opposite sides of the shape. But as they ran for the center of the machine a loud noise, unfamiliar and almost robotic, had screeched. It was unpleasant and grating to both their ears.

“What was that?” Kyungsoo asked over the loud shifting noises of machine behind the walls. They had just met in front of the pedestal.

“I’m not sure. And it did not sound friendly. It sounded like a call, like.. It was talking.”

Suddenly, a door behind them had opened. They had no idea that there was even a door there as it looked like the rest of the room. The door opened by six triangular slices retracting and revealing a hoard of blue lighted figures suspended mid-air. They drifted into the room in their odd shapes, irregular and pointed at the tops. Kai wasted not a second more and pressed the button in the middle of the pedestal. He did not want to wait around for the floating robotic creatures to discover them.

Kyungsoo was frozen in place, terrified by whatever the creatures were and how the blue light in the center of their bodies projected rays of light that fanned over every object in the room. But before the robotic creatures could meet with the two humanoids, the floor had suctioned their feet with an immense force and slammed into the ground at an impeccable speed. It made Kyungsoo quickly lose his balance and fall over, Kai had caught him in time and held him in his arms as the elevator sunk deep into the ground. It was an uncomfortable position, given that their feet were glued to the floor.

The elevator only moved for a few seconds before coming to a sudden slow down, until it was traveling three times slower. It slowed down the moment they left the encased walls of the elevator shaft and a pitch-black room was before them. A biting cool air nipped at Kyungsoo’s cheeks as he stared into the room, it gave him a feeling that the room was large like the one they were previously in. The noises of machines shifting echoed far and wide in the room though they had no idea of what was happening; the only source of light coming in was from the opened shaft above. The force keeping them suctioned had released and Kyungsoo quickly fell in step next to Kai, clung to his chest as they stared into the darkness before them. Kai kept a strong arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, his eyes even squinting to see the best to its ability. He could make out shapes similar to the room before, but the darkness allowed for little and it was hard to discern what noises came from where as the room echoed with clicks and moans with the movement of heavy machinery. It was loud and obnoxious, sounds that reminded Kyungsoo of an MRI machine. Suddenly, a figure had scurried by and Kai’s eyes could just see the tail end of it. Another flash of shadow dashed by, this time making a noise of heavy gurgles as it ran by. It was all too soft for Kyungsoo to hear and see, but Kai’s head whipped in every direction as he heard the noises, pulling Kyungsoo closer as he did so.

“I feel like we’re being watched.” Kyungsoo whispered so softly that he was afraid even Kai could not hear him.

A loud click of the floor beneath shook them, blue lights immediately turned on and the room was illuminated. Dozens of foul looking creatures that crawled on four legs like spiders had littered the floor. The sudden change in light scared them, causing most of them to hiss and cower and bare their sharp rodent like teeth. Their faces jutted out and eyes bulged as opaque white bulbs of light. Their bodies were hairless and pale, leaving bones to protrude from their backs in every which angle.

Kyungsoo gasped at the sight of them and instinctively grabbed harder onto Kai, wishing for nothing more than to fly back up the shaft and face the robots above. What neither Kai nor Kyungsoo knew was that the moment Kyungsoo let out the breath of air he had been holding did it reach the nostrils of the beasts and cause their mouths to water with an insatiable hunger. They had not eaten good food for quite a long time.

Two of the vulgar creatures raced towards them, making Kai pull out his dagger and push one back. The second had come from the side and found its chest pierced with the silver knife. While Kai had thrown the body away another had attacked Kyungsoo’s leg, he screamed at the sudden force and kicked the creature square in the head. It seemed to hurt him more than the creature.

Kai quickly switched their positions, released Kyungsoo and shoved the torch in the face of the creature. It squealed something awful, grating against their ears as it scurried off. The stench of the creatures had been putrid, especially the profane smell of their blood as Kai would slice the few that dared come too close. But it was getting to be overbearing, especially when hordes of them started spilling over the edges of the amphitheater structure.

“Kai!” Kyungsoo had screamed when the male started to get too far and a particular creature had been stalking him.

Without even glancing at the male, Kai had slipped two small knives from his pocket and flung them at the beast. It squealed when they entered its nose and what Kyungsoo assumed was a temple. It died just a few moments after it tried to run off.

Another creature jumped from the side of the ledge and pinned Kyungsoo to the ground. The male whimpered with each struggle that it took to keep the vile creature from biting his face off. Its claws had been held in Kyungsoo’s hands as he fought the creature, it was strong, much stronger than Kyungsoo could handle and large, about the size of a ten-year-old child.

Kai had appeared suddenly and had managed to take the beast off whilst upside down. He had vaulted over Kyungsoo’s body and grabbed the creature, using that as momentum to throw the creature away. It was quite the awesome feat, but it was no match when they were severely outnumbered. Kai had pulled Kyungsoo up and held him close against his chest once more, his face stern in a growl and his knife threatening anything that dared get to close. But even as the hoard closed in, something from above had swooped down and shattered the creature’s lines.

The robotic beasts from above had come from the opening of the elevator and released what looked like beams of blue light. Each creature that met the light had squealed and burned, some of them even catching fire if their bodies were not severed in half. Other robots had extended appendages released from their underside that flung around and electrocuted or stabbed them. It was quick work as the beasts began to retreat, they seemed to greatly fear the robots.

Lucky for the two males the robots had missed them, completely, not even acknowledging their existence.

By the time all the beasts had laid dead on the ground, a rather smaller version of the robots had appeared before them and scanned them with the same blue light as before. The blue light in the center of its face turned purple and continued to scream at them in a mesh of what appeared to be the robot’s communication. When nothing happened after the initial sounds, the robot repeated.

“What is it doing?” Kyungsoo asked as he stared at the floating device before them. It was rather high above them.

“It may be trying to communicate with us.” Kai whispered back.

The robot made the noise again, this time Kai responded in his natural tongue. The robot was silent for a moment before speaking again, this time repeating things that sounded like Kai’s language.

“English, do you know it?” Kai suddenly changed.

The robot paused again.

“Recognizable.” The robot repeated in a distorted way, it had no distinct definition as to what kind of voice it was, neither masculine nor feminine. It was just simply a robotic metallic voice. “I am Master Guard. I protect and maintain function in these facilities as I was first programed millions of years ago.”

A shiver had run down Kyungsoo’s spine, causing him to physically shake at the eerie yet amazing conversation that was happening before his eyes. That, and the smell of the creatures was just about ready to make him throw up.

“I command the sentinels to protect the Tel. In the absence of my masters, I oversee all the operations here.. We lie dormant until called upon, maintaining, until needed to operate the machines once more... A great power is coming,” Kyungsoo froze at the robot’s words. “And we have awoke to its presence. Are you not here to use the Tel.”

Kyungsoo supposed it was a question but the lack of inflection hardly made it seem that way.

“What is the Tel?” Kai asked in a clear and vibrant voice.

The robot paused, simply bearing down on them.

“The Tel is a weapon. Connecting the pieces of power and creating an energy opposing all others. All would perish upon its power.”

Suddenly, the robot did not seem so friendly.

“You know what Carn is?” Kai asked quickly.

“Carn. It is a name to describe the,” A series of sounds had emitted from the robot, unintelligible noises that Kai could not discern. “Yes. We know what Carn is. We were designed for the sole purpose of protecting this machine. The machine that will destroy Carn.”

“This is it?” Kyungsoo mumbled, “We’re here? We found the machine?” His voice piqued with a slight excitement, he couldn’t believe they had managed to find their way to the right place. The chances of that were zero to none in his mind.

“It may be. But where it is, or what it looks like is the next question.” Kai said to the human in his arms.

“I will lead the way. Follow me.” The robot suddenly spoke and turned, gliding its way through to a door on the other side of the room.

Kai and Kyungsoo followed, the robot was very forgiving with their slow movements. Down halls like the ones above them they had traveled, heavily guarded by the sentinel robots that would ward off any of the vile creatures that dared to pop out of the shadows of the light. They had finally come to stop at a room, a room not quite so big as the elevator room but big enough. In the center of it was another structure, small, about the height of Kyungsoo’s lower stomach.

In the center of it held a solid platform. It was large and filled with two rings surrounding a small circle divot. In the two rings also held sporadic circle divots, all carved into the platform. It was a large piece of structure, it spanned a diameter just a head taller than Kai.

Kyungsoo moved in close to the structure, inspecting it closely and noticing the thick layer of dust that coated it. At least, what he assumed to be dust. He put his hands on the edge of it and blew hard, making the pieces of dust fly up and float about in the air. But as he did so the surface of the table-like structure had hummed and began to slowly grow in a bright white color. Kyungsoo stumbled backwards, afraid that he had done something wrong.

“This is Tel. A machine powered by,” Another series of inaudible noises left its body.

“The taurn.” Kai had muttered as he looked to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo quickly took note and reached into his pocket for the blue crystal that Hrodûrim had given him.

The robot flew in fast and inspected the crystal closely with its blue light, a scanner ray forming over it.

“You possess a,” The noise came again.

“Part of one. I think it used to be bigger.” Kyungsoo added.

“Indeed. But it will do. It is hard to break these power sources. I only wonder how destruction came upon it.” The robot hovered away and looked at both humanoids again. “You seem to know what you need to do. You possess one already, do you not have others?”

“We only have two.” Kai spoke and raised his wrist. “One powers my calus.”

“That one definitely used to be bigger.” Kyungsoo added again.

“Interesting.” The robot spoke plainly. “Then you would know that there are eight total. You must find them to complete the Tel. They power the machine and together produce an energy that would greatly harm Carn.”

“How do we find them?” Kai asked.

“Over here.” The robot flew over to the edge of the room and a screen began to light up, one like the pedestal that they had pressed for the elevators.

The robot seemed to control the panel without touching it, its single light switching around colors as the screen changed. Kyungsoo watched in complete awe.

Before them a map had engulfed them, a map that looked of stars and planets. Kyungsoo could hardly believe what his eyes were seeing, it was absolutely stunning.

A few tweaks from the robot and the map had shown three planets that glowed in an orange like color.

“These are the three planets that possess the remaining orbs.”

Kyungsoo stared at the map with wide wondrous eyes, a soft gasp emitting from his lips as it danced on cheeks. He knew that there was nothing, but the way the map extended and submerged the two males made Kyungsoo feel like there were actual particles roaming his face. It made his heart swell with wonder, a feeling that was full and wholesome.

Kai had been surprised by the map himself, but not nearly as much as Kyungsoo. This map was very similar to the kind his people could produce; he wondered if the technology of his people had been influenced by this ancient civilization. But as he looked down at the pale human, his heart had constricted, and his cheeks grew to a rose hue.

Kyungsoo had looked up at the alien beside him, as he noticed his presence looking down at him. But what he saw was a look of guilt as the alien averted his gaze. Whether Kai was truly sporting a guilty facial expression was the real question to be asking, but it still seemed to hurt nonetheless. And it was in that moment that Kyungsoo decided he would come to terms with how he felt. His heart literally hurt and stomach felt deflated when Kai looked away with an expression that seemed so standoffish. It was in that moment that Kyungsoo realized that the feelings he was starting to harbor for the alien were more intense than he wanted.

The robot proceeded to zoom in on the planets and state their names in its weird robotic language and described each world. One planet read with three power signatures, another with two and the last with one. There were too many to gather in such a short amount of time, but Kyungsoo thought it might be possible for them to get them all with Kai’s device.

“If you wish to stop the darkness. You must find these. They were hidden around the universe, never to be used until the moment the darkness would consume all. But it seems that over the years they have been found and moved… Collect them and bring them back.”

“Why do you trust us?” Kyungsoo suddenly asked, he was weary of this robot.

“I am programed to trust in the descendants of Marian. Blood of the Marian runs deep in this life form. You are different, but still descendant.”

“My great ancestor was Taikai. He conquered most of the known alliances in the Hedrat quadrant.”

“Taikai. Descendant of Thel. Thel was a friend to our masters. Thel helped create our system and programed the weapon.”

“I have no idea of what any of this means.” Kyungsoo quickly mumbled.

“Marian are the ancient people before mine. They were a nomadic people who were forced out of their homes until they settled on Eleto. They were fair and one of the first races created in the universe. They have all perished and evolved into what my people are today. My great ancestor was one of those people and it turns out my bloodline goes back even further. These were the people who called upon Xanin to gift them with power to protect themselves on Eleto, they were weak and susceptible to other dominating powers.”

Kyungsoo brought his hands up to his head and desperately wanted to pull at his hair, but completely forgot that it had been shaved clean, just fuzz remained. Still, he ran his hands through his hair at the fact there was so much history to the universe and it seemed like Kai had a very important part to play, well, at least his ancestors did.

“What the fuck am I even doing here.” He mumbled in a humorous, deprecating way.

“Indeed.” The robot turned to Kyungsoo. “Your makeup is… Inadequate. You would suit better as a pet than a companion.”

Kyungsoo’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me? Fuck you, you piece—” Kai quickly found his place beside Kyungsoo and covered his mouth with his large hand, shielding the small male away from the robot.

“My apologies.”

“I cannot be offended.”

Kai paused for a moment, thinking about the ridiculousness of the situation before proceeding. “Such customs do not exist in most places anymore. Kyungsoo is my companion, from here and henceforth.”

Kyungsoo seemed to calm down suddenly at Kai’s words, trying to listen rather than fight the arm that held him back.

The robot paused. “Noted. Companion Kyungsoo. Then, I urge you—”

A loud scream had emitted from the hall. A scream followed by a hoard of hundreds of other squeals and nasty vile gurgles.

The three were distracted by the noise and all turned to the open doorway. Immediate sounds of the beams of light had gone off, the robots were fiercely warding off the vile creatures.

“Go, now. When you return with the orbs, this place shall be cleared. Hurry, and leave. Do not return until you have all eight.”

Kai had released Kyungsoo’s face and let his arm circle his shoulders as he began to lock in coordinates on his wrist. All three coordinates of the planets had been placed and they were ready to take off. Kyungsoo held tightly onto Kai and waited for the uneasy shifting to upset his stomach.

֍   ҉   ֎

The first planet they traveled to was the planet with three orbs. Yutr’k, as named by the natives and best translated to English. It was a small, mostly jungle, planet that had been ruled by one race of humanoid like creatures. They were barbaric and aboriginal, deifying one supreme being that possessed four eyes on its head and had skin blue like seafoam. It wore a magnificent hat, a crown really, that supported three of the orbs. In the center and highest above the two was a completely black orb, the one bottom left was yellow, and the bottom right seemed to be a deeper blue than the one in Kyungsoo’s pocket. All of this was easily obtained because they were captured the moment they stepped on the planet. They did not move more than ten steps before they had felt a sharp pain in their necks and had fallen asleep. It took Kai significantly more darts to tranquilize him, but it had done the trick.  

It was night time when they woke up and they were caged, feet tied, but not their hands. The cage was made of a dense bone and heavily reinforced. There was no escaping, at the time being. What was most unpleasant about the whole situation was that there had been a great green fire in the center of the tribe, and the great being that possessed the crown of orbs had been watching over his subjects with a heinous sort of smirk. Kai had been picking out parts of their language to interpret and had found something along the lines of “sacrifice” and “to the great one”. He decided not to tell Kyungsoo, especially since he was already a little on the panic side, but he figured Kyungsoo was smart enough to puzzle together what was going to happen to them.

Two of the indigenous creatures in their dark purple skin tones, dressed in cloth around their stomachs, yet completely pantless, had walked up to the cage with bowls of food. They sported no genitalia, yet what Kyungsoo assumed were females had displayed breasts in the same spot humans would. Their bone structure was disheartening as their shoulder blades formed sharp curves and their legs were similar to an amphibian. They had no hair and wore leaves or strands of grass as crowns, but their eyes had been black with small white circles in the center. Most them adorned this kind of look, but skin tone and body shape varied. They were most interesting, yet terrifying if they opened their mouth to show two sets of sharp teeth. However, the two placed bowls of a mushy and putrid green looking soup into their cage and walked away with snorting snarls of words.

Kyungsoo had picked up a bowl and sniffed it, it had an odd aroma of chocolate, _stale_ chocolate.

“Do _not_ eat it. We don’t know what could happen.”

“Kai, I’m literally starving. I don’t think I’ve eaten in a day. Or maybe longer, I don’t know how time is around us, but I’m hungry. I really think I should eat this.”

Kai admitted that he was quite hungry himself, but it was dangerous to eat something foreign. Especially from creatures that seemed hostile.

Suddenly, another pair of the humanoid like creatures walked up to them holding what looked like spears, pointed rocks at the tips. They had made a series of grunting noises and threatened them by shoving their spears into the cage, cutting the ties at the ends of their feet off. Kyungsoo had fallen backwards to not get touched by the spear, while Kai had responded with a kick of his foot and broke the spearhead as he slammed his foot down. The other spearman responded with a shout and stabbed Kai right in his side before he could do anything. Kai yelped and fell as the spearman pushed him to the ground.

“Ohhh kay!” Kyungsoo screamed as he ripped the spear out of Jongin’s side and shielded him away from the raging spearman. “That’s enough of that!” He had ended on top of the male, straddling him in a position so that his back faced the attackers. “You want this? Is this what you want?” Kyungsoo had grabbed a bowl beside them and began to sip it, assuming that the spearmen were trying to force them to eat the bowls of food. It had tasted exactly how it smelled, like stale chocolate—not very pleasant and the texture of the lumpy substance was like slimy scrambled eggs. He gagged for a second but proceeded to swallow. This seemed to calm everyone down, even the people who had been dancing by the fire and noticed the scuffle. They calmed down further when Kyungsoo held the bowl up to Kai’s mouth.

“Just drink it, it’ll probably save your life.” He whispered and watched as Kai slowly let his plump lips intake the substance. It was a quick sip, but it was enough to calm everyone down and retract their spears.

Kyungsoo let his tongue taste the substance further, for some reason he had a weird desire to take more and continued to drink his bowl for another couple sips. It was another three more sips before his body decided to tell him to stop. While he had sipped his bowl, Kai reached over and continued to down his own. When Kyungsoo finished, he put his bowl down in his lap and wiped his mouth clean. He had been amazed while watching Kai’s Adam’s apple bob and a little of the drink leak out of the side of alien’s mouth.

“Hungry?” Kyungsoo asked with a chuckle, Kai just breathed out and stared at the male on top of him. “How’s your side? Did you heal it yet?”

Kai put his bowl down and said not a word as he placed a hand on his side. His face contorted slightly with the pain as his hand glowed beneath his clothes.

“Good.” Kyungsoo said with a barely audible voice. It seemed to slur into a muffled sound. But as he did so, his body began to feel immensely warm, his cheeks growing bright with the heat. It was a weird sensation, but it felt like a haze had been quickly washing over him. Like it was his first time taking soju shots all over again, and that immediate sleepy feeling in his eyes was taking over.

“You finish?” Kai said in a weird tone. It was hard to explain other than that it was just weird, Kyungsoo had never heard it before. Especially with the fact that he had not used proper English.

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No, I can’t. I guess I’m full. My body is, like, just telling me no. Like I’m about to have too much alcohol.” His words seemed to slur a bit.

Without another word Kai took the bowl in Kyungsoo’s hand and began to down it as well. The feeling consuming Kyungsoo made him giggle. But as soon as Kai raised his head to finish every last bit of the soup-like substance, his chest began to pound hard and his stomach flopped. Something south in his foreign pants began to twitch, he had been feeling odd for a while, but he hadn’t even realized that it was a sexual odd. Watching Kai’s Adam’s apple bob up and down seemed so inviting and delicious that Kyungsoo nearly moved closer into the male to create some sort of contact. But as Kai brought the bowl down and let it hit the ground, their eyes locked and something so animalistic broke away inside of him. The shock of how sexually interested he had just become to Kai was almost scary, making him try and back away but finding that he had no strength in his legs.

“No.. Oh nonononononononono.” Kyungsoo began to panic, he could see how his pants began to show the formation of his dick.

Kai looked down and noticed it on Kyungsoo.

“I’m so sorry, I can’t get up. Like it’s physically impossible for me to get up and I literally have no control over this. Oh my god, I promissee.” Kai had shifted Kyungsoo up, allowing a more comfortable seat for him and placing his hands on the male’s hips. It was what caused Kyungsoo to moan at the end of his sentence. “No, oh please no. This is so awkward.”

Behind Kyungsoo had been a crowd of the indigenous people, they were starting to surround the cage and shouting all sorts of weird noises at them.

Kai’s face tilted and contorted as he tried to discern what they were saying. It took a moment as Kyungsoo began to pant as he sat there, his cock was growing in more pain with the lack of friction in such a short amount of time and it was a very annoying situation.

“I think they yelling at you put your penis in me.” Kai said.

“What?!” Kyungsoo snapped up.

Kai was silent as he listened to the words of the creatures again.

“They think I’m female and want you impregnate me.” Kai frowned. “But I cannot bear child… Why do want child?” Kai began to open and close his eyes, it seemed as if he was having a tough time focusing himself. He had shifted again and rubbed his hands on his eyes, but as he did so the movement caused the fabric on Kyungsoo’s pants to slide over his dick. A moan was elicited from his mouth and he quickly covered his mouth.

The two stared at one another, for some reason, Kai’s chest had started to heave as he stared into Kyungsoo’s eyes. At the same time, Kyungsoo could have sworn the male’s eyes had glowed brighter in its amber color.

When nothing had happened between them, a shot of pain ran through Kyungsoo’s groin again. This time he groaned and shut his eyes tight and covered his crotch with both hands.

“Pain.” Kai had said as he watched Kyungsoo closely.

“It hurts…” He looked up with pleading eyes.

Kai’s mouth had been parted slightly, a desire to ravish his lips had burned through Kyungsoo’s being. But as Kyungsoo stared at the male’s sacred lips he had missed how Kai had moved his arms to wrap around his waist and pulled the male taught against his stomach. Kyungsoo was now up on his knees, looking down into the perfect golden eyes of elf. His hands had been settled on the broad shoulders of the male as they breathed heavily into one another’s faces. Kyungsoo loved every second of the way he smelled, his sweet aroma littering his nostrils with the inexplicable scent of his breath.

“—soo,” Kai seemed to barely say the male’s name.

Kyungsoo brought his hands up to cup the elf’s face, stroking messy strands of the stark white hair. Oh how he wanted to kiss Kai’s lips in that moment.

“My body.. What’s happening..” Kai mumbled.

“The soup…” Kyungsoo mumbled back, despite how loud everyone had been cheering around them, they could still hear one another.

Kyungsoo leaned in to Kai, slowly trying to attach his lips and see if Kai would return the action. Instead, Kai had pulled the petite body down, forcing Kyungsoo to sit directly on his own groin. A string of air left Kyungsoo’s mouth as his own cock delved in the action it had been receiving. But what shocked him more was feeling something hard against his rear once contact was made.

In a quick moment, Kai began to untie the string that held Kyungsoo’s shirt closed, opened it and let its length fall onto his stomach. In another quick and swift movement, he had pulled Kyungsoo’s pants down enough to pull out the throbbing cock, however, Kyungsoo’s shirt made it impossible for anyone to see anything.

Kyungsoo threw his head back as soon as Kai began to stroke him.

This had officially been the weirdest thing Kyungsoo had ever done in his life.

Public masturbation and he couldn’t even feel bad about it.

Kyungsoo had long since wrapped his arms around Kai’s neck and pressed their foreheads together. Kyungsoo simply stared at what was happening with his crotch but for some reason Kai stared directly into Kyungsoo’s face, watching every last facial expression he made.

“I’m so sorry, I should have cum by now.” Kyungsoo said breathily, a good long couple of minutes had gone by.

“No. I’m sorry for what I’m about to do. This won’t stop unless we get it out of our bodies.”

“Wha—?” Kyungsoo asked as Kai slipped the human’s cock back into his pants and covered his stomach again. Within a movement unseen by most, Kai had pulled out a knife and slit his own left arm across the soft skin of his inner elbow. Blood immediately began to gush. In another second he had done the same to Kyungsoo, but on his neck. More specifically, the jugular. Kyungsoo had never bore an expression more confused and more hurt than that. His hands quickly found way to stop the bleeding and fell backwards once feeling started to find way to his legs again.

An uproar sounded through the crowds surrounding the cage. Kai stood to his feet and slammed his hand into the ground; a powerful surge of light had washed out in waves and made the people fly back, stunning them for a temporary stasis.

Kai had quickly kneeled to take hold of Kyungsoo’s body in his arms, holding his head up and pressing his hand to the male’s neck with immense force. He shut his eyes tight and recited a few words in his native tongue, his hand glowing bright against the stark red that poured from Kyungsoo’s neck.

Kyungsoo stared up at the elf, his head barely able to process anything as the amount of blood he was losing was far greater than it should have been. But he couldn’t help but notice the tears that seemed to stream down Kai’s eyes as he spoke the healing words of his people.

“It’s okay.” Kai said softly as he rested Kyungsoo’s head back down.

Kyungsoo knew he would be okay, he put his hand to his neck and found that there was no longer a cut, just an inordinate amount of blood. He felt sleepy, so terribly weak now that he had been resting on the ground. But even as he laid there, barely coherent, a roar so loud and so fierce had sounded in the distance. The hoarded aliens all seemed to shriek and cower in fear, all huddling against one another and slowly backing away.

Most of them moved to their leader and bowed before it, the four eyed one. They spoke in quick rushed voices, as if begging for him to save them from whatever had just made the noise. It seemed that the blood had awakened whatever beast they were afraid of.

Kai took that as his opportunity and disappeared in a flash of luminescent smoke, Kyungsoo simply laid on the ground and watched as he reappeared in front of the four eyed demon alien and lodged a small knife in between its eyes. The creature screeched something awful. In that moment, Kyungsoo wondered just how many knifes the elf had hidden, but mostly, he watched as the alien fell from its high chair and the crown broke to pieces. The orbs disbursing on the ground.

Not a moment later did Kai appear back in the cage that had been abandoned by all the aliens; most of which had run off into the forest. Whatever it was that scared them off, was enough to make Kai apprehensive and quickly teleport to the next planet with the orbs in hand.


	10. And begged for forgiveness

֍  ҉  ֎

Silence filled the two as they sat across from each other in the widest cave Kyungsoo had ever been in. One would imagine that something dire as going to be talked about, as the air was thick with tension. Kyungsoo was beyond all the words in English that could define uncomfortable.

Prior to that very painfully uncomfortable moment, they had teleported to the second planet, the one containing two taurn energy signatures. Upon arrival, the winds were mighty, and a heavy cold rain poured with intention to drown; so they made quick work to find cover. At the base of a bare mountain they found shelter in a cave relatively close to their spawn point. Both males were unequivocally exhausted, Kyungsoo fell to the rather soft ground of the damp cave (crimpled to the ground, to be exact). It wasn’t long before he passed out, face down, into a semi-blissful slumber. Kai stayed awake for another two hours (after propping Kyungsoo up and making him comfortable), keeping an eye on the weather and surveying the rest of the cave. Eventually, he settled by Kyungsoo once all was safe and made it so that the human was resting against his chest and in his arms with his sleek cape covering them both (mainly for the sake of warmth, as the cave was close to freezing temperatures). Both had slept for much of the night, or day, it wasn’t too clear which was which. Kyungsoo eventually woke much later than Kai, never getting to know that Kai had held him close and oh so protectively.

But as they were now awake—a steady light streaming in and low howl from the wind outside—they settled across the cave from one another, choosing silence. Not even knowing where to start.

“I think I want to go home—”

“I must apologize for—”

They started at the same time.

“You speak first.” Kai offered with an uncomfortable smile.

“I think.. I should go home.”

Another silence impregnated the cave.

“I uh…didn’t really get to choose by the end of our ‘exploration’ at that place.. And, I don’t know if I can actually go on..”

“Okay.” Kai finally said, after some time.

“ _O-Okay_? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“I slit your throat when all I needed to do was cut your wrists. I put you the closest to danger you have ever been…” Kai quieted and looked down at his lap. His white hair messy and frizzy as it hung over, flecks of red staining his white suit and hand.

“Kai..?” Something felt odd. Kai’s response was very peculiar.

Suddenly, Kyungsoo thought he had seen two glistens of light drop in between his legs. He called out to the elf again, this time more worried than the last.

“Kai, what’s the matter?” The alarm was rather apparent in Kyungsoo’s voice.

“I saw my brother…” Kai finally whispered. “I held your head and he was there…”

Kyungsoo tilted his head in confusion, “Wh-What?” He said breathlessly.

Kai raised his head and bore Kyungsoo down, his eyes red and fighting desperately to hold back tears—even as they streamed down his beautiful, full, and bronze cheeks. Kyungsoo got up after realizing the situation and knelt beside the crying elf, wrapping his arms around Kai’s head and forcing the white head of hair to nuzzle into his bosom. Kai let go of all qualms and gripped at Kyungsoo’s shirt firmly, he seemed to cry harder like that.

Kyungsoo stroked the elf’s hair ever so gently, whispering soft words to ease the crying male.

“Please, don’t leave me.” Kai muttered into Kyungsoo’s chest. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” His voice was so soft, and so afraid of the answer that would come from Kyungsoo’s lips.

“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” Kyungsoo said out of instinct.

It’s rare to find a person good at consoling someone while they’re crying, Kyungsoo certainly was not one of those people. But in the rare occasion that you find yourself in the presence of a crying alien, you just might find yourself as the very definition of _comforting_. With the way Kai was literally sobbing into his chest, it made him feel all kinds of disconcerting things. He had no idea Kai even had the ability to cry or show so much emotion, so really sitting down to think about all he’s been through began to make Kyungsoo’s head hurt. Whether Kai would talk about it or not did not hide the fact that he had been exiled from his own home, an entire planet to be exact. A brother who he adored was gone, and he murdered his ex’s father, who was now out to kill him. Now, he’s on a mission to save the universe. He was alone for so long that it was no wonder why Kai liked to follow him around the house. Hover above his shoulder while he was cooking dinner or greet him at the door when he’d come home from work. Kai was just irrefutably lonely. And if everything else didn’t scream a slight bit of stress, then Kyungsoo didn’t know what did. There’s only so much a person can hold until they break, and that doesn’t exclude highly evolved alien life forms.

Kai was now at breaking point.

“I was stupid, I was so terribly wrong. I don’t know why I did that to you. I’m so sorry.” The elf just mumbled endless apologies as he cried, a hiccup in his voice here and there. It was kind of endearing to see that he had a side so human to him, but the awkward sense of sympathy played a larger role.

“Kai, it’s okay.” Kyungsoo said firmly when the elf did not stop and held the dauntingly beautiful face in his hands. “I’m not dead, am I? I mean, I was in a weird place too, never in a million fuckin’ years would I let _anyone_ jerk me off in front of a crowd... But you saved me didn’t you? Yeah, that was really fucking terrifying, but I’m still here aren’t I? …I know it must have reminded you of your brother, but you were able to save me.” He smiled for the alien, wiping a few stray tears as they glistened down his face, they truly did sparkle. “Granted, you were also the one that could have killed me, but you saved me.” He said as an aside, really. He was trying to make a point that he was not Kai’s dead brother, he was alive and well.

Kai’s own glorious golden eyes frantically looked between the two dark chocolate eyes before his, he felt small and so pathetic in that moment. But he nodded eventually, accepting that Kyungsoo was serious about what he was saying.

“Why _did_ you cut my throat anyways?” Kyungsoo asked once he got the answer he needed.

“Your jugular bleeds the fastest. I had only a small frame of time and needed to get the stimulant out of our systems. I was afraid you might die of a heart attack before something else...happened.”

Kyungsoo wiped all the remaining tears that cascaded out of the elf’s eyes, still holding him gently and gazing tenderly into his eyes.

“Alright.. I’ll take your word for it.” Kyungsoo shrugged, not wanting to delve any deeper than he had to in the subject. He definitely had a couple unspoken things on his mind.

Kai hung his head as he placed a hand on one of Kyungsoo’s and let it slip through his hair and earrings. Kyungsoo was taken aback by the sudden connection and watched as Kai’s eyes fluttered close with the motion. His long dark eye lashes seemed so delicate in the light trailing into the cave. “I will take you home. And make sure you’re safe before I leave.”

Kyungsoo blinked for a moment, completely forgetting that he wanted to go home for a second.

“Ah, yeah.. Well… I mean..” He thought quickly and thoroughly before he was about to make a mistake with the new decision. “I said this before anyways, it’s not like I really have a place to go back to. And as much as I would rather be home, curled up in a blanket, drinking tea and watching my favorite movie, I think there’s something more important to be done here.”

“You have been and remain uncomfortable with each situation you are presented. I will do my best to make sure you are comfortable. Do Kyungsoo, I will bring you home.” He said in an easy yet firm tone,

“And I said I change my mind about making up my mind… I stay. And not because you asked me to, but because I want to.”

Kai lifted his head once again with gusto, his red eyes searching for the affirmations he needed.

“You’ll stay?” He whispered.

“Yeah. I might as well.. Just, don’t slit my throat ever again. I know you can heal me, but just.. don’t do it.” He sighed out.

Kai flung his arms out and hugged the male close to him, their chests touching and Kyungsoo was sure he could feel the elf’s heartbeat.

“I promise.” He whispered into Kyungsoo’s ear.

“Good.” Kyungsoo felt his cheeks flare up and wrapped his arms back around Kai. Oh the things this alien did to his heart. But then Kai suddenly became aware of himself and let the hug go in a frazzled manner.

 “A-ah.. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hug you so intently. I’m used to Amy and Raj hugging me whenever they have an extreme expression of elation. It must have ‘rubbed off’ on me.” He cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly.

 Kyungsoo simply chuckled after the initial shock. “It’s fine. But as for your punishment, when this whole thing is done, I’m making you sit through all eleven and a half hours of my favorite movie series. Plus, you jerked me off before you bought me dinner. Now I’m stuck with you until you make up for that.”

“I’m not sure I know what that means..”

“Uh…” Kyungsoo whirred. “You know what never mind. It’s fine.”

“Did you mean when I pulled on your penis? It’s custom to buy someone dinner first?” Kai furrowed his brows, he surely did not remember reading anything like that amidst his many articles on the human condition.

“Okay, wow. Yup, that’s what I was talking about. And kinda? Most people like to get to know the person they’re about to…” Kyungsoo’s cheeks flared to mortification this time. “Never mind, it was a joke. A joke!” His hands went up in surrender—it was official to say that he was done.

Kai had separated himself from Kyungsoo and bowed his head to the ground in a child’s pose. It was the same bow that he had given Xanin. “Please, forgive my heinous actions. An Allve does not truly feel sexual activity until after their soul has mated with another. It has been made like this through the evolution of my people. Our prolonged years of life has affected the birthrate so that we do not become over populated. I apologize for succumbing to those emotions and not asking for your permission.”

“Oh my god, please get up.” Kyungsoo shoved the male by his shoulder to get him up. “It’s not like I wasn’t feeling anything either. Clearly I liked it and would have told you to stop if I didn’t!” He muttered as he tried to sit the male up.

“You would have?”

“Yes! I’m not a complete dipshit.” He would leave out the part that something about the situation turned him on more than he already had been. Or maybe it was just the food that made him feel that way?

“You should know, that even though my thoughts were impure of Allve culture, I did not have intentions of pro-creating with you… Those creatures were going to watch us while we became intimate and were going to wait for me to birth a child so they could sacrifice it to their god.”

Kyungsoo looked down and his eyes widened, “Holy fuck… They must not get a lot of exposure besides themselves because that’s just not how you or I work.”

“They would have found out one way or another and probably have killed us afterwards.”

Kyungsoo’s face ran pale and his body went cold. “Well, at least we got what we needed.”

“Yes… And we should continue to move if we want to ever find the rest.” Kai wiped his nose quickly. “We cannot delay any longer, civilizations parish every second now.”

“...Right.” The weight of that sentence suddenly felt heavier than he had previously thought. “Right.” He repeated more for himself. “But what I still don’t understand is why did that creature have three of them?”

“I speculate that it came across the taurns by accident. It was using their power to make itself a living god to such barbaric people and wanted sacrifices to keep their favor. And if we don’t hurry, who knows what other creatures are abusing the power of the taurns.” Kai stood to his feet and offered a hand to Kyungsoo, a hand covered in dried blood. Kyungsoo took the hand and had been pulled up with little force.

“Let’s do this.”

“Together.”

֍  ҉  ֎

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ZkCLUFrys&index=7&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym&t=0s) - traveling the plateau's of Leyik

The planet was large, probably larger than Earth, if not the same in size. Yet it was relatively close to Krakatos, close in the sense that they resided in the same galaxy. It was possible to see the Krakatos at night, a star that twinkled with a yellow-ish hue in the sky. This planet was known as Leyik to the natives, and well known in the Eletrin Pact (Eletrinksu Protocol). Kai had explained to Kyungsoo that the planet was mostly covered in salt water, and that any land consisted mostly of grassy plateau’s and mountains. Weather was often unforgiving, and the temperatures were well below the human standard. Even Kai felt a chill despite the gift Xanin had bestowed their bodies. Civilization was similar to human’s, just a tad more advanced in that they could communicate with other planets across the galaxy. It was a terrific landscape of green, sparse trees that looked like tall pines, and creatures that looked similar to sheep with their fluffy coats but six legs and double iris’. They were surprisingly docile creatures.

The two traveled along the tops of plateau’s and ravine’s below for quite some time. Kyungsoo had no concept of time as everything just felt unusually long and his feet hurt. He was sore at every inch and the wind was relentless against his paper like skin. Kai would do him a favor and walk with his arms secure around him when the winds were too much, sharing the small cape to shield against the wind. During the moments that Kyungsoo could be so close to the alien, he couldn’t help but feel mildly disgusted. He was sure that he harbored feelings for the alien, so why did he feel suffocated and somewhat aroused? He noticed this every time they would part, he would feel normal with no contact but uncomfortable as soon as they were in contact. Regardless of those odd emotions, there was barely any cover with the open lands, so it was crucial they huddled for warmth. To top the exhaustion from walking and the chilling wind, they were starving. The last thing either of them had eaten was the putrid stale soup that increased their libido to an unhealthy proportion. Kyungsoo would rather throw up and eat that than think about the soup. But honestly, anything seemed like a good idea as he was starting to get a headache from low blood sugar and dehydration.

By luck of chance, Kyungsoo and Kai had come upon a stray group of the six-legged creatures. They were mostly huddled together on the top of a hill of a plateau, easily eating the grass. These animals did not run away from them and cared little for their existence as they walked on through. But as the two males walked on up the hill, they had reached the flat surface of the top. There they saw more of the creatures clustered together, but among them was a taller figure, one dressed in thick gray and green robes accented in purple and holding a walking stick. It looked to be a shepherd and his heard. Well, shepherd in-training, as Kyungsoo and Kai would come to find out later.

From the couple hundred yards that they stood from each other, they stared each other down with questioning looks. Kyungsoo was afraid that they would be hostile and sick his sheep on him. But that was not the case, no; instead, Kai raised an arm and held a hand high. He raised a second and let both palms face each other on a horizontal plane, one thumb facing the sky and the second the ground. He wiped them from each other three times and waited patiently for a response. The figure raised a reluctant hand and let its supposed thumb face up. Kai seemed to relax at this response.

“Good, he’s accepted my welcome. It’s a welcome that foreigners with hands like us do to replicate their greeting. Their hands are structured like a chameleon and have unique body language because of it.”  He said as they walked on to the alien.

“That’s great and all, but do you know their language? What if he calls a hoard of his people over and we end up like the last planet?” Kyungsoo whispered and tugged on the elf’s sleeve.

“These people are far less barbaric, and much more hospitable. Language won’t be a problem here.”

Kyungsoo frowned as they neared the stranger. “So you don’t know.” He muttered more to himself.

And he was right, Kai only knew a few basic words which grew into a whole vocabulary once the two engaged in conversation. It was a rather smooth conversation, much unlike the harsh and vulgar noises that had come from the previous people. Kyungsoo was lost whilst he stared at the stranger, not even realizing as Kai pulled him along and down the side of the hill until they saw a small house. Smoke rose from a chimney and the windows were round. It was a cute stone house with thick hatching on top, not much of an advanced civilization to Kyungsoo’s standards.

Inside the home lived a family of four odd looking creatures, they walked on two legs like Kyungsoo and Kai but had diamond iris’s and dark coloring of what would be white for humans. Their noses were non-existent and supplemented with two slits that opened and closed as they inhaled and exhaled. They had gray leathery skin with thin, cylindrical, lizard-like tails that usually hid behind the several layers of their robes and two fingers that were just like chameleon feet. It was both fascinating yet frightening as Kai quickly learned their language and Kyungsoo could sort of say their names. The family consisted of a husband and wife and their two children. One of whom they had greeted outside and was the eldest, he was close to Kyungsoo in age and the other just a few years younger. The eldest, though, was the tallest; taller than his parents and sported a head of deep purple hair. He went by a very long and complicated name, Eyolch Ank’p’na-intod if English could do it any justice. Kyungsoo just settled for calling him Chan, as that was all he gathered from the sounds coming his mouth. The rest of the family sported similar and long names full of sounds that Kyungsoo wasn’t so sure he had the capability to pronounce. Along with similar long names, they had all looked very alike and staring too long at them unnerved Kyungsoo. He could tell they were all related.

All looks aside, Kyungsoo and Kai had found themselves in the presence of some of the kindest people Leyik had to offer. They immediately welcomed the two traveling aliens into their home and fed them. Kai debriefed them that they were in need of lodging and were starving, not to mention that the family had recognized Kai as the sole heir and prince to the planet Eleto. Eleto was kind of a big deal in the universe: second in command of the Eletrinksu Protocol, highly revered for their technology and knowledge; basically, they held a celebrity standing just for being Allve.

The family brought over their finest blankets and wrapped their shoulders with the wool-like substances. Come to find out they were blankets that the family made from their ki, the small sheep-like animals they saw throughout the land. However, these animals produced a much softer and kinder fabric.

After much conversation over food (that was remarkably delicious in both Kai and Kyungsoo’s opinion) Kai had found out a great number of things. The family had moved from the main city to a remote spot of the countryside to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. It was also to protect the family, as Chan’s father was moderately often pursued in his line of work, to which he would not name. They had been living in the countryside for about five earth years, three for them, taking a new life as shepherds. They raised and shaved their animals to sell to passing merchants and made their life living off the land and the little supplies the merchants could offer. It was a hard life for the children to adapt to since they had never experienced anything outside of the city. But they were managing well enough. Kai and the family also spoke of the growing darkness in the sky and how it worried them. They were aware of Carn and its existence and were afraid that if it consumed anymore catalytic level destruction would destroy the universe as they knew it. The consumption of energy and time would break something in the natural laws of the universe and cause some sort of black hole that would be large enough to consume everything; larger than Carn, larger than the universe, and larger than any parallel universe that might exist. Kai agreed with Chan’s parents, it was possible something like that could very well happen. It only made the urgency to find the rest of the orbs rise in him, though, he was reluctant to bring up the topic to the family, afraid they would sabotage their plans.

Not too long after their conversation, the youngest son had come back to tell the two that the bath was ready for them. Of course, the child thought it natural that Kai and Kyungsoo would bath together, as bathing was a completely communal thing in their culture. The parents had to then explain that not all people worked like that and it was okay for them to bathe separately. Kyungsoo thanked them greatly for that. Kai was the first to bathe, leaving Kyungsoo alone in the den of the house sitting by the fireplace and sipping lightly on tea. This cozy and warm feeling almost felt alien to his body, like had not taken a rest in a good long while—both mentally and physically. It made him wonder how long he had been away from home. Everything had been going by so fast that it nearly felt like a day and a few hours. When it was probably closer to a week, he just couldn’t tell without the constant day and night cycles keeping his internal clock up to date. Kyungsoo sighed out upon those thoughts, partly wishing he went on blissfully with his life, never having met Kai. He then sighed again because he knew that although this was the worst situation to ever happen to him, it was also the best. If he survived any of this by the end, it would be the adventure of a life time. And that was thought enough to make Kyungsoo smile.

As Kyungsoo gazed into the fire of the hearth, Chan had sauntered into the room with a tray of what Kyungsoo assumed as bread. He offered it and made various motions for the human to eat it, which Kyungsoo gladly abided. Kyungsoo felt mildly uncomfortable with Chan just sitting next to him, not saying a word and making rather loud chewing noises. Of course, what could Kyungsoo say? It’s not like they would understand each other. He then looked over at Chan to find him scrolling through what appeared to be a tablet, a bright screen and his finger swiping through pictures. The tea he had been sipping nearly fell out of his mouth at the sight of the tablet, he wondered where such a modernistic piece of technology was hiding in the rather analog house. There was next to nothing about the house that seemed futuristic, they used wood for heat, made all their own clothes and hand washed them, and there were no power outlets.

While Kyungsoo greatly pondered upon this, Chan had held his tablet out and showed the human a picture of a creature that was pure white. Its irises were rimmed in gold and filled with black, large and doe like they were. Its body was short and stout, similar to that of a penguin but wider and less mobile looking. It bore a white nose and two tuffs of fur that poked out at the top of its head. Black whiskers poked out from its snout as a band of black lined its curvy lips. It was an adorable creature and Kyungsoo quite liked it. He then looked up at Chan and smiled, hoping that a smile would show he has positive feelings towards the picture. Chan then settled the tablet down and used both of his hands to outline Kyungsoo’s shape in the air. He did this twice before pointing at the picture, then repeated the process. Kyungsoo was only confused for a moment when he realized that Chan was trying to say the creature looked like him. Out of politeness, Kyungsoo smiled and nodded and then continued to wonder if it was a compliment or not, the creature looked like a cross between a sea lion and a penguin. While Kyungsoo thought to himself, Kai had walked into the room dressed in fresh blue robes that were lined with yellow and purple designs. He held a towel to his hair, drying it gently in soft pats. Kyungsoo’s face lit up at the sight of the elf and he could feel his ears go hot with the elation of seeing him.

Chan then mumbled something and seemed to laugh to himself. Kyungsoo gave no notice to it and simply watched as Kai dried his hair.

“The water is plenty safe for you to use. You can take a bath now, I’m going to get as much information as I can from them while you relax.”

Kyungsoo nodded to Kai and went on his merry way. And relax was entirely what he did. He dipped his milky thin legs into the tub of stone and allowed his body to sink in. He felt whole and one as the warmth surged his body and he could practically feel the grime melt off his body. There were no soaps, or oils, just a cloth that he gladly used to scrub himself clean where he could. After all the grime was swept away, he sat back and let his arms splay on the sides of the tub and head hang loose on the end. A breath of absolute content left his lips; not even the howling winds outside could pull him away from this treat.

When Kyungsoo finally finished his bath and dressed in his woolen robes, similar to Kai’s, he joined the family in the living room. All of whom were seated on the ground and picking out the little impurities that littered the wool of the ki. In the center was a pile of freshly shaven wool and another full of wool that had been picked clean, Kai was on one side of the mother, helping her pick. Kyungsoo sat next to Chan and was immediately given one end of the alien’s woolen piece. Kai debrief him of the situation and that it would have been impolite to not help. Kyungsoo of course gladly obliged, he’d take this any day over a tribe of sacrificial maniacs.

The rest of the evening was easy and quiet, dinner having been eaten on the floor of the den on a cloth spread. It was again, delicious, and both males felt their stomachs full of bread and soupy goodness. The family had been nothing but gracious to their needs and allowed them to sleep in the den in front of the hearth for the night. The two sons set up the room with lots of blankets and pillows to accommodate their taste in comfort, to which Kyungsoo smiled widely upon having a bed. He was exhausted after spending the whole day walking and unfulfilling sleep the night before. He was more than ready for bed.

The two males laid on the ground, faced away from each other and did not speak a word. Their clothes were hung up to dry on the other side of the den and Kai’s bag of taurns were settled in between them. It was silent like that for at least two hours, neither of them could find anything to talk about lest they disturbed the family from their sleep (but they did not know that the people of Leyik had hearing levels lower than humans). It felt as if a wall had separated the two of them; both could feel it, they were so close, yet so far from each other emotionally. Instead, Kyungsoo’s thoughts drifted into the many anxiety’s that gnawed at the back of his head. They had reached their next destination, but how were they going to find two more taurns without any leads? Kyungsoo was upset that Kai didn’t bring it up to the family, maybe someone knew something? But he understood the alien’s apprehension. They were lucky to have been captured nearly seconds after arriving at the last planet and were led to the three orbs, now they were completely left in the dark. Kyungsoo began to think deeper into those thoughts. What if they never find the next two taurns? What if the universe ended before they even got the chance to leave this family? What if the orbs were broken? _What if, what if, what if_ , on repeat drilling nonsense into his thoughts.

Suddenly, Kyungsoo heard light shuffling next to him and then a hand placed gently on his head. A warm body leaned over his and he could feel soft tendrils of hair grace his neck, shoulder and ear.

“Sleep.” Kai’s easy voice whispered into Kyungsoo’s ear, then he blew a soft tuff of hot air there.

Kyungsoo froze once the words touched him, but not an instant later did he feel everything in his body relax. Places he hadn’t even realized were holding tension had released. Starting from his toes and making its tingling sensation all the way up his spine and to his neck. Oh how he just wanted to melt into the floor and take the sheets with him. While his body physically relaxed into goo, more shuffling from the male behind made Kyungsoo aware of the fact that Kai was trying to leave the house. The front door by the kitchen was opened quietly, not even a mouse could have heard it, but the gust of chilly air had reached Kyungsoo’s neck and he knew the elf was gone.

Kyungsoo thought it best not to follow, Kai probably needed a moment alone to think. But that moment turned into an hour and Kyungsoo worried. He knew he’d never find sleep unless he knew where Kai was. He turned over to look at the front door, the dying fire in the hearth just enough to light their makeshift beds and show the bag of taurns was missing and Kai’s sheets were neatly done. Kyungsoo got up and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and quietly sauntered his way to the front door, his socked feet made a soft swish noise with every step he took on the odd dirt/gravel ground. He wasn’t as quiet as Kai, but it was plenty inaudible for the family to not notice.

The air outside was still frigid, not nearly as cold without the wind, but still nippy enough to want to stay under covers. He opened the door as quietly as humanly possible and cringed with every sound that felt like thunder; honestly, they were small ticks and creaks but they were deafening to his ears. He stepped out slowly into the dark night, two moons high in the clear night sky. One just barely a new moon on one end of the horizon while the other was large and full of light at the other end. It was so quiet, not even a cricket or some otherworldly night time screech sounded. Kyungsoo could see the breath leaving his lips as he closed the door behind him, wondering how Kai could stay out for so long in this kind of weather. He stepped out further on the dirt path of the home, casting a careful gaze on the surrounding landscape. It was really just flat land, a few boulders here and there and furthest in the distance were the outlines of plateau’s and their ravines.

Kyungsoo sighed, Kai was probably miles gone by now, there would be no catching up. Not only that, he desperately hoped that the alien hadn’t left him behind for good. Kyungsoo thought it probably would have been for the best, he was useless to this quest anyways.

“Kyungsoo?” A velvety and hushed voice came from behind the human. Kyungsoo whirled around and found luscious white locks glistening easy in the moonlight and golden eyes bright with every movement upon the roof.

“Kai? What are you doing up there?” He asked just as quietly.

“I could not sleep, and wanted to see if I could get a lead on a taurn… I thought you were asleep?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “Nope, me neither.”

“Would you like to join me?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes glistened with intrigue and immediately looked for his way up on the house. “Yeah, but how did you get up there?”

“I jumped.”

“Of course.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Come round this way, I’ll help you up.” The alien stood to his feet and trailed to the farthest left side of the house. Kyungsoo followed over and sucked his teeth when he saw the pile of firewood ready to climb. Kai let a delicate foot step on the thin logs on the top of the pile and bent over with an outstretched hand.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need help. My body still feels like jell-o after whatever you did.”

Unknown to Kyungsoo, Kai flushed all the way up to his ears with embarrassment knowing Kyungsoo must have heard him whisper in his ear. “I thought you were asleep and having a nightmare. Your breathing wasn’t steady and rather eradicated, so I thought I’d help you.” Kai was able to grab Kyungsoo’s small hand and pull him up with complete poise.

“Nope, I was just thinking about every little terrible thing that could possibly go wrong. So like a nightmare but awake.”

Kai stepped onto the roof and pulled the human in suit. That time, however, Kyungsoo was unable to lift his legs high enough over the roofing’s edge and dully tripped into the alien.

Kai held Kyungsoo in his arms firmly, waiting for him to regain his balance and making sure he was okay.

“And I’m clumsy as shit.” Kyungsoo sighed even more defeated as he let go of Kai’s toned arms.

Kai said not a word neither disagreeing or agreeing, for that matter. Instead, he led them over to the center of the roof and sat side by side at a modest distance. As they sat, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but notice how he did not feel repulsed by Kai’s touch, rather, he felt light in his heart like he knew he should. They stayed there for a little while, not saying a word to each other and taking in the land and sky. This time the wall between them was completely gone, nothing was blocking them off metaphorically and Kyungsoo felt so relaxed. The sky was beautifully lit up in constellations, reds and greens of cosmic nebulas, and numerous shooting stars. It went on for miles since the land was so flat, Kyungsoo had never seen so much sky in all his life; it was sheer beauty. But there was something off. A part of the sky was noticeably dark, like a hole had been punctured and nothing could fill it besides empty black decay and few stray stars on the edges. Kyungsoo frowned at the sight, especially because of how large the blank spot was compared to earth. It made him feel small and insignificant again, his thoughts were eating away at his consciousness and he needed to change that, so he quickly turned to Kai.

“Where did you put your bag? I didn’t see it when I got up.”

“I hid it under my pillow, I trust the family enough to not go through our things, so I did not attempt to hide it well.”

“Oh… Did you have any luck finding leads on the other taurns?”

“No.. I came up here in hopes of meditating, to connect my energy to the energy of the taurns. I guess it’s just not physically possible for me to do that. If it were, I think I would have been able to do it while on Earth, too.”

Kyungsoo nodded slowly. “You know… We should probably ask the family. They might know something.”

Kai was hesitant to respond.

“What?”

“…I was thinking to do the same.. I am just, apprehensive about it.”

“Yeah.. I know.. But we’re running out of time. We have to get this over with as quickly as possible. Worst case scenario we just pop on out of there with your calus thing.”

Kai let his head hang and he fiddled with his fingers in his lap. “You’re right. We should ask tomorrow. We cannot dwell long here.”

Kyungsoo smiled to himself in satisfaction, but it was short lived when he took notice of Kai’s face. Another silence grew between them, one that was a little more stifling. Kyungsoo wasn’t used to Kai making such dismal faces, twice in one day was too much.

A light breeze whistled its way by and took them by surprise. Kyungsoo physically shuddered at the feeling and curled closer into his blanket.

Kai noticed Kyungsoo’s reaction and allowed himself to move closer to the human. “The weather isn’t as bad without the wind.” Kai said as he wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and brought him firmly into his side. “But still cold enough.”

Kyungsoo at a complete loss of words, froze with the sudden action. His heart beat fast and his stomach felt the hundreds of butterflies flying about, it was a nice feeling. That then raised the question, why did he feel so distant for most of the day? Was it because he was mentally exhausted and needed to whine down? He wasn’t sure he’d ever get the answer but as long as he could feel this good by Kai, he’d let it stay.

Of course, once reality settled back in, he did not bat an eye and let himself stay there. He even huddled himself closer to be in a more comfortable position. It must have been magic because Kai was just radiating so much warmth in that moment.

“…They’re a very nice family here.” Kyungsoo said in a soft voice.

“Yes, they are. The people of this planet are notorious for being homely and accommodating. Next to Eleto.”

Kyungsoo snickered once more, “What isn’t something your people are notorious for?” He chided.

“Well, they are much better seafarers here. The oceans here are doubled in treachery, yet they have the skill to masterfully sail and fish in their waters. Allve are skilled in the ocean, but not nearly as skilled as they are.”

“Well that’s refreshing.” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“Refreshing… I find their hospitality.. Refreshing. Even though they are hiding a thing or two” Kai finally agreed in a gentle tone.

“ _And_ it’s hard to look at them for long, but they’re still really nice.”

Kai chuckled at Kyungsoo’s response. “You know, when I greeted you outside the bath and you were with Chan? He said ‘it’s so hard to look at your face’ then laughed to himself.”

Kyungsoo gaped, “And here I thought we were becoming buddies! We could have been intergalactic pen pals!”

Kai let a breathy laugh escape his lips, “You still can.”

“Nu-uh! Not after that snide remark!” Kyungsoo puffed his lips, “I’m not _that_ repulsive.”

“No, you are quite the opposite. But aliens like you or me have only ever been on a screen for them. And I’m sure they rarely met other lifeforms while they lived in the city. They are just as much new to you as you are to them.”

Kyungsoo snickered at the elf.  “Quite the opposite, huh,” he muttered to himself. “Then tell me I’m pretty.” He grimaced.

“You’re pretty.”

Kyungsoo again was stunned by his words. “No, don’t just say it because I told you. Don’t say it if you’re not gonna mean it.”

“But I did mean it. I find the human definition of pretty to suit you well. You are pretty.”

Kyungsoo could feel his face burn and the tingling sensation intensifying in his stomach. Was falling in love part of this whole journey? Was he even allowed to feel this way? Shouldn’t his priorities lie somewhere else? But how could he deny any of his feelings when beside him sat Kai, who was holding him so closely and so gently. Of course, Kyungsoo changed the subject in his head and asked another question that had been bothering him for some time.

“Hey, what’s the relativity of everything? How far is Kraka-whatever and this planet and your planet from Earth?”

“In relativity to Earth, Krakatos and Leyik exist in two very different parts of the universe. The Eletrin Pact has a huge distance covered around the universe, however, Earth is much to far from our reach. I didn’t even know Earth existed until we met, and I’m sure there are thousands, of other planets like it that we haven’t seen. There may even be another organization that binds what lies beyond Earth, together, one similar to the Eletrin Pact… Krakatos, Leyik, Yutr’k and the last planet all lie within the same galaxy. That star there, is Krakatos, if I’m correct.” He pointed to a star that sat lone on the outer rim of the black spot in the sky. “Carn is close to devouring Krakatos and the only planet that gives light within its area is Krakatos… When the universe was first created, I theorize that the ancient people of Krakatos had no idea that universe expanded for millions of light years and hid the taurns within the confines of this galaxy. Hoping that their power would only be used for their intended creation. But I don’t think the trillions on trillions of years served them well.”

“So you’re telling me, we could have _died_ while we were on Krakatos?”

“Possibly, yes. The threat of Carn has been in route to Krakatos for a while now.”

“Unbelievable.” Kyungsoo shook his head. His use of the word went along with many things, but mostly to the basis of understanding Kai’s words. He would play only a small part being human in the universe and yet Kai was here telling him history that no one could ever possibly imagine. It was all truly, _unbelievable._

“Why do you know so much?” Kyungsoo muttered aimlessly and he sidled his body closer to Kai and let a hand gently grip at the elf’s side.

“It is my duty,” Kyungsoo’s face shrunk into itself when he realized Kai was responding to him. Those words were meant to be his thoughts. “As Crown Prince of Eleto, it was my duty to know all the known worlds and histories of this universe. However, most of that information is useless now that I cannot partake in diplomatic affairs and help my people.

“Mmm.. Sure, it’s probably useless information to you now for that reason. But in general, it’s not useless. Now I know all of this because you told me. And without your quick thinking, we probably would have died a long time ago. It’s not useless to you… Well, it’s at least not useless to me.”

Kai remained silent after that, and what Kyungsoo did not see was the light smile that traced his beautiful plump lips. He leaned his head down to the top of Kyungsoo’s bare head and placed his mouth and nose there. Most would think he was giving a kiss, when really, he was just trying to show affection with close contact. Plus, Kyungsoo’s next to bare head seemed cold and he wanted to warm it up.

Kyungsoo said not a word of their position and left it where it was. Reveling in the warmth and allowing his feelings to flourish through his heart and mind.

They stayed in that position for a good long while, long enough that Kyungsoo eventually fell asleep surrounded in the feelings of love and warmth. This time, Kai was sure that the human was asleep and whispered again.

“I wish you would live. I wish you would always stay by my side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chan is based off of Chanyeol, so in a sense, it's Chanyeol :)


	11. Though we found trouble once again

֍  ҉  ֎

As consciousness slowly resolved into Kyungsoo’s waking limbs, he felt that thick barrier tugging at his heart once more. His eyes opened slowly to find the dim glow of morning settling on the den and kitchen entrance. Before him was Kai, fast asleep and facing him with his blanket curled to his chin. Between them was Kai’s bag, filled with the orbs. Kyungsoo had no recollection of getting back inside the house; all he could remember was blissful warmth and a few sweet words whispered in his ear, though he could not recall those words for the life of him.

Kyungsoo reached out for the bag, letting his hand feel inside to make sure there were four. As each hand came in contact with a gem he tossed them to the side with utter distaste. One made a burning sexual desire tingle from his fingers to his lower stomach. Another made him feel void of all emotions, like nothing had ever existed inside him and would forever stay numb. That was the most terrifying one of them all so Kyungsoo quickly tossed that to the side. The third felt no better, it was suffocating, literally. Kyungsoo could feel his lungs constrict and a heavy weight baring down on his shoulders. It quite literally felt like he was drowning so he made sure to toss that aside quickly. The last made him feel cold and distant, like he wanted nothing more than to face the perils of life and death in solitude, to be utterly and completely alone. He knew which stone that was, it was the one Hrodûrim gave him, he remembered that feeling of wanting to get away from everything.

They all felt terrible, but there were four in the bag and five they had in total. The last one was in Kai’s calus, so all were all accounted for. It explained why Kyungsoo felt so terrible every time he touched Kai, it was because of the orbs. Kai had been carrying five taurns each with overbearing attributes for most of their journey and said nothing, that made Kyungsoo feel both guilty and rather angry. Angry for the fact that Kai would rather do it by himself when they were supposed to be a team. Guilty because he had no idea how terrible the elf had really been feeling with these orbs on hand, he wished he could hold them forever and never let Kai bare them.

Kyungsoo tossed the bag away from them, he was wide awake and knew it would be fine as long as the bag was near by. He felt sure that nothing would take the bag so long as he kept an eye on it. What he wanted though, was a clear view of Kai, one without restraint of emotions. He pulled his pillows and blanket closer and laid back on the ground, never taking his eyes from the soundless alien. His eyes trailed from the long dark lashes that jutted out, down his long and perfectly button nose, down his philtrum and to his all too symmetrically perfect lips. Kyungsoo thought about what it would be like to kiss them one day, lips like those were made for kissing. Plump and gorgeous and could spew utter nonsense and still be attractive (not that Kai ever did, though).

A sigh suddenly drew from Kai’s lips, they parted with ease and his body shifted—curling further into itself. His hair fell messily in front of his face, glorious white strand after glorious white strand. Kyungsoo reached a hand out without much thought and took each piece of hair and tucked it back behind his pointed ear. He had taken his jewelry off and his hair was left unbraided, it was so smooth and so perfect that Kyungsoo just wanted to lose his hands in them. But as he let his palm rest on the side of Kai’s face with fingers still in the alien’s hair, the thudding of feet jolted them both.

Kai woke suddenly and did not miss how the human retraced his hand. Kyungsoo sat up quickly to avoid Kai with red cheeks and to see who had been thumping down the hall. It was Chanyeol, dressed in fresh robes of gray and blue, followed by his little brother in a similar outfit yet more messily put together—he was still in sleep mode.

The two brothers raised their hands and bent their fingers in a weird fashion for a greeting. Kyungsoo simply smiled awkwardly and raised a hand with a solid wave. The two brothers had awoken to make breakfast and since they had two more mouths to feed, they had to wake up just a bit earlier than usual.

Breakfast was eaten at a table in the kitchen, it was a whole family affair and so was clean up. Kai and Kyungsoo engaged and helped where they could with clean up and greatly appreciated the food and bed they were given. Before Kai or Kyungsoo could ask anything about a taurn they thrust upon a few chores. Kyungsoo changed into a fresh pair of soft and warm robes, while Kai changed back into his own white outfit. The father roped Kai into lifting heavy pieces of logs for fire wood with the youngest son, while Chan had taken Kyungsoo to do laundry. The mother was out to count sheep and herd them closer to the house.

Chan had dragged Kyungsoo by the hand and down the hall of the house and into the shared room of the brothers. Kyungsoo hadn’t the slightest idea of what was going on, but he complied anyways. The room let open to a small place, half the size of the den with two small and hammock like beds and two wall racks filled with robes and clothes. A window sat furthest from the door and shelves decorated either side of the room. Chan moved to start gathering clothes, kneeling over a pile of dirty clothes as he did so. Kyungsoo walked slowly, as his eyes were trained on the unique shapes of figurines and other oddities on the shelves. But what really caught his eye was a red orb, standing tall and proud on three sticks that were interwoven to be a small tripod.

“It can’t be…” He let the words fall from his lips in a ghostly whisper.

Chan heard the noise and looked up with a questioning gaze. He followed Kyungsoo’s eyeline and immediately stood to his feet when he realized what he was staring at. He walked over to the shelf and pick the orb up with ease. He handed it out to the human and said a few words that Kyungsoo pretended like he could even mildly understand.

He let the orb fall into his grasp and he immediately felt an overwhelming sensation of something swelling in his chest. It was a positive and good feeling, like he could jump into someone’s arms and never let go, to forever love and be loved. Chan watched the expressions change on Kyungsoo’s face and tried to tell him, “Cool right? It’s got some sort of magic power on it that makes you feel in love.” But Kyungsoo could understand none of it, of course.

It was after Chan’s words did a smile stretch on the human’s lips and he bolted out the door toward the outside of the house. He looked around briefly, listening and diligently looking out for who he needed to confirm this orb. Not a moment later did he find Kai at the side of the house, chopping wood where he should have been. And in the exact moment that Kyungsoo laid eyes on the elf raising an axe did everything feel so warm and so good in his heart. All he could think of was embracing Kai so fiercely that the whole family of chameleon people would have to pry him off.

The father and son stopped to look at the commotion, Chan chasing from behind. Kai gazed upon Kyungsoo’s odd smile and slightly heaving chest, then dropping his eyes to the object in his outstretched hand. Even the mother had arrived from the hill of ki and seemed very interested in the commotion.

“Kyungsoo… That’s..” It took just a moment, but Kai eventually dropped the axe and met the human with an eager demeanor. He took the perfectly round orb and carefully inspected it, as he could see the light shimmer of pink glowing all about it.

“Do you feel that?” Kyungsoo whispered with a smile still spread on his lips even though the ever-loving emotions had left him.

“Yes… This… This is a taurn!”

“I knew it!” Kyungsoo shrieked with excitement.

“Where? How? Tell me everything!” Kai spoke fast and bore a rather unfriendly expression, but Kyungsoo thought nothing of it, he knew Kai was just simply curious.

“It was in Chan’s room, literally just chilling on a shelf in the open.”

Behind Kyungsoo Chan spoke wearily, trying to get their attention yet being completely ignored.

“So there was one here all along…”

“Right? Isn’t that _too_ lucky.” Kyungsoo chided with a light huff.

“Amy’s orb, it invokes good luck, remember?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes slowly opened wider, and wider with each passing realization. If they hadn’t had Amy’s taurn yet, they quite literally would have died a long time ago. “I.. I don’t wanna know what would happen if we didn’t have it.”

Just suddenly, a leathery hand swooped over them and snatched the red taurn from Kai’s hand. Chan had confiscated it and retreated behind his father who proudly defended his family behind his back.

They were speaking in rushed voices, all at once and Kai was overwhelmed with the sudden onslaught. But Kai eventually spoke back and tried his best at mediating between the family. Kyungsoo did not know it but the people of Leyik were quite vicious when aggressive, their sharp teeth that looked small in their mouth’s grew long and unwelcoming, their hair stood up in a defensive fashion and their claws grew quite large. They could easily kill someone if they chose to engage in a fight. This family was quite ready to engage if they had to, had it not been for Kai who so quickly allayed their fears.

He told the family of the five that they had in possession, gathering all eight to bring back to Krakatos and how crucial it was that he take all of them. Of course, the family did not believe the story, how could they? They were sworn to secrecy and to keep their taurn protected for as long as the universe existed. It passed through hundreds of generations of the same family, never to be found and kept a secret. In fact, it wasn’t until the appearance of an old acquaintance did the family give in.

A gust of wind shot by the house, chilling everyone to their core. Not a moment later did a blinding white light flash across the overcast morning sky and the sound of thunder clap a murderous thrum in their ears. No one could distinguish what had happened and proceeded their bickering when all seemed fine. It wasn’t until the mother spotted something come from high in the sky did the family all start to panic. They scurried and did everything they could to grab firewood, brooms and buckets and anything they could get their hands on into the house. Kai and Kyungsoo were very alarmed by this and looked to see where their source of panic arose from.

High in the sky was a winged bird like creature, at least it seemed that way. It wasn’t until the creature drove in closer did they realize that the wings were in fact enormous in length. The closer it got, the stronger they could feel tuffs of wind blowing up against their skin and the shine of a weapon clad in its right hand. The form was now taking shape, two legs, two arms, a noticeable head of hair and it was coming in hot.

Kyungsoo stumbled back as the creature dove in, wanting to stay as clear as possible but Kai seemed to stand his ground. By the time the stranger landed with a great vibration from their feet, the family had long huddled inside the house.

The stranger raised itself up from the initial contact and bore its bare chest out for all to see.

“You!!” Kyungsoo shouted once the realization had settled and he was mildly put to ease. He’d never admit it, but he was afraid to mispronounce his name.

“Me!” He responded with gusto. “Yes, I am here and I bring you good news. Well, both good and bad news.” It was Hrodûrim, in all his golden glory. Broad chest, sculped torso and dashing coffee locks of hair.

“I thought we’d never see you again.” Kyungsoo had sidled up to Kai’s side and held onto the elf’s arm.

“You and me both. But I had to bend some rules, mess up a few timelines and put myself into this journey. Albeit an extremely short amount of time, it something that will hopefully be a good thing by the end of all this.”

Kyungsoo kept his mouth shut, something seemed odd about what Hrodûrim was saying: did he know how their journey was going to end? Timelines? What timelines?

“What news do you bring us? Are they from Lord Xanin?” Kai spoke with a flare to his voice, excitement teetering on his tone.

“No, actually. In fact, he has no idea I’m here so let’s keep this our little secret.  I’m here because without my help, you’ll never find the next taurn. And even if you do, there’s no way you’ll be able to get out.”

“Where is it?” Kyungsoo questioned.

“Just beyond those mountains.” Hrodûrim nodded his head to the left of the house where an amazing mountain range displayed itself. The highest peaks were littered with white snow, and hazy clouds, the base gray as the sky.

“That honestly looks like it’s four days away, half the universe could be gone by then.” Kyungsoo bemoaned at the distance.

“Six, actually. Which is ever the longer. But we shall travel in style.” Hrodûrim’s wings shot up in feathery goodness, the family had all collectively shrieked from inside their house.

“But we need this taurn before we can move on. This family will not give it easily.” Kai insisted as Hrodûrim began to walk for the house, barefoot, mind you, and still wearing the same risqué outfit from their first encounter. It made Kyungsoo shudder thinking about the coldness he would be in if he wore that.

“I’ll deal with them.” A brazen smile had lined his sculpted lips and he opened the door with ease. The family seemed ready to fight him, but there was no sound of a scuffle. Just the soothing voice of Hrodûrim speaking their language flawlessly—more so than Kai could emulate—he sounded like a true native.

Not five minutes later did Hrodûrim come out, followed by Chan and his father, while the brother and mother scurried about the house. They all seemed in complete shock, or solemn, it was hard to tell but they were mostly confused. Chan had walked up to Kyungsoo and stretched a hand out with the red orb. Naturally, Kyungsoo caught the orb in his own hand and stared in awe as Chan walked away.

“There, that should do it.”

“How did you do that?” Kyungsoo asked with wide eyes.

“Easy, I just spoke a few old words to them and they understood the situation. Now they’re helping you get on your way because they too, would like to survive Carn. They are very aware of the threat and have yet to evacuate the planet like the rest of their people.”

It was true, they were aware Carn was just around the corner, but that family could not leave the planet. They had been bound with the task of keeping the taurn protected until it would be retrieved for its original purpose. Even though there had been a planet-wide mandatory evacuation (as most planets in the galaxy were issued) this family had to escape secretly to the country side and hope someone would come for the taurn. Because of this unwillingness to leave, it caused the family to run into trouble with the authorities; leaving them to escape the city in secret. They were risking their lives for a job that was generations before any of their time, hoping and praying that the universe would be saved.

Kyungsoo turned and watched as family ran in and out of the house, grabbing clothes and water and shoving them all in a single bag. His heart felt heavy and stomach burned knowing this family had been risking so much. It fueled the want in his heart to make sure he saw this journey to the end, whatever means that meant. Once the family finished and gave them Kai’s bag, they stood in a line with their necks raised and the tops of their hair each turning a shade brighter. It was their way of saying farewell and ending it with their arms outstretched and fingers balled. Kyungsoo stiffened at the sudden display while Kai held a fist to his nose and bowed deeply.

“What the hell is happening right now?”

“They are wishing us farewell.” Kai answered the human.

“But why? What did you say to them exactly?” Kyungsoo side-eyed Hrodûrim.

“Nothing important. Don’t worry about it, we must be off!”

Before Hrodûrim could approach the two, Chan had wondered close to Kyungsoo and poked his shoulder for attention. Kyungsoo turned and greeted him with wide eyes and watched as Chan leaned down and pressed their cheeks together. It was an odd sensation of cool leathery skin against his, but the contact warmed immediately. Kyungsoo had no idea of how to react and panicked as he looked at Kai, Hrodûrim seemed to laugh to himself. Not a moment later did Kyungsoo feel something warm and slimy lick his ear. He gasped at the contact and ripped himself away from the alien, holding his ear with his mouth agape.

Hrodûrim guffawed at the reaction, “That’s means he likes you!”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and wiped at his ear as quickly as possible, while Chan seemed to stand faced away and his hair grew even brighter in color. Chan was feeling quite bashful.

Kyungsoo looked for Kai, wanting a better explanation but found that the elf’s face was stern and rather…upset? His eyes shimmered in their gold color, in a rather menacing way. Kyungsoo turned his head and pretended not to notice the alien. Only after did he remember how Kai felt about mouths and how ‘dirty’ they were. Yes, that was it, the fact Kai found mouth’s repulsive. At least that’s what he tried to tell himself.

Eventually, Kyungsoo took the extra bag prepared for them and accepted the cloaks they wrapped on their shoulders. Kyungsoo kept on his robes and allowed the mother to wrap him in an oversized scarf made of the ki’s wool. It was soft and everything good that Kyungsoo wanted for the road, well, path really. For the next part of their journey took place far from any road.

“Ready, finally?” Hrodûrim chided as he stood in between the human in gray robes and elf of red and white.

“I think so..” Kyungsoo said.

“Yes.” Kai added with a nod.

“Then off we go!” Hrodûrim, without warning, grabbed their arms and blasted up into the sky.

Kyungsoo screamed bloody murder as the wind rushed against his face. His eyes teared as they stared up into the open sky, never seeing the end of it as they kept going up, and up and up. Eventually they leveled out, and the biting wind had lulled down into something tolerable, but still freezing. He had not immediately grabbed on, but once he could gather himself he wrapped his arms tight around Hrodûrim’s sides and felt a pair clutching on just as tight. He peaked around the back and saw through the great heaving wings that Kai was pressed terribly hard against Hrodûrim. Kyungsoo leaned toward the front and found Kai’s face scrunched and eyes shut tight. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he had heard the scream of another voice as they took off, on top of Hrodûrim’s bellowing laugh.

“It’s a bit nippily but you’ll live! Anyways, Kyungsoo! How’s that crystal I gave you?” Hrodûrim spoke loudly so his voice could carry through the wind against them.

“It’s fine! It’s stored in Kai’s bag.” He answered just as loudly.

“That’s great to hear. Now. There are some things that you should be made aware of.”

“You mean you didn’t give us all the information last time?” Kyungsoo muttered, though a god-like creature could hear it easily.

“No, we didn’t actually. You need to know a few more things about these taurns and why they’re spread around as they are. I did a little more research on my own and found out a few things that I think you’ll benefit from. It’s a little risky for me to tell you since I was never meant to meet you again like this. There are certain timelines that I saw where I visited you and I think with just the right interference, I won’t fuck up whatever Fate has put in store for you… Now, as you’re aware, each taurn is extremely powerful. They produce enough energy each to practically be their own sun if used correctly. However, since these little balls of power are so damn powerful, there comes responsibility. The ancient people of Krakatos knew they could not harbor these stones for fear of others seeking them out to take for their own use. They were created with the intent of destroying Carn, not to be man handled, though that chance never came. The taurns were made before the weapon on Krakatos was ever finished, and that meant that they needed to be hidden until the weapon was complete and they needed to be hidden separately. This way if the location of one was ever found, they wouldn’t all be in the same place if in the wrong hands. That was when the ancient people of Krakatos set out to various planets in this solar system and hid them each in a different spot during the beginning of the universe. There’s no exact date as to when that was, time was not nearly as much of a concept as it is now, so no one really kept track. I was not created until much later in this lifetime, but those that were around, like Xanin, were busy on self-discovery and the meaning of existence. So, all we know was that this happened sometime in the beginning, and since the beginning was an atrociously long time ago, that left some of the orbs to be discovered. Time did not settle well with the orbs and a couple were confiscated. In fact, the last person who had so many in one place was on Yutr’k. Having found a third there but was brutally sabotaged by the natives and took the orbs for themselves. The same goes for all the others, either accidentally were they discovered and brought around or purposefully. Though the most mysterious of them all is how the one I had and the one on Earth had come about those places. Two places completely out of reach of the ancient people of Krakatos, they possessed no technology that could allow them to travel outside of their solar system and could only take it to these few spots. But as the years continued and the numbers of the ancient people dwindled, they began to panic about the safety of the universe. There was too few of them to complete the weapon and the safety of the taurns worried them. They did what they could to hide the rest of the orbs but many failed in the process, I imagine that is where the Earth location and mine came about. At some point there was only one left of this race and they set out to make sure at least one of the taurns could never be found. They did so on this planet, after successfully handing over the red taurn into the care of that family for generations. They hid the last one in a rather… Difficult place, one that no one could ever possibly find. At least, well, if someone _did_ find it, they wouldn’t be able to get the others.”

“That… Doesn’t make sense. It sounds like it’s a trap, like it was hidden in a place to trap you if you ever found it.” Kyungsoo inquired.

“That’s exactly what it is.”

“So you mean to tell me, they put the last one inside a mountain to lock us in, like a pyramid tomb?”

“No, far more complex.” Hrodûrim said as his wings flapped hard against the decent to the ground, they had been nearing the edge of the mountain. “It was placed in the fourth dimension.” He hit the ground with a solid thud and gently let the two smaller humanoids down from his arms.

“You’re joking right?” Kyungsoo nodded his head low once he had gathered his balance back.

“I wish I were, but I’m not.” Hrodûrim held Kai up by his shoulder for a moment before the elf could stand on his own, he was pale in the face.

“How the hell were we even going to find that out without you?! How the hell do we even get there?!!” Kyungsoo demanded as his brows twitched and face reddened with frustration. This was completely unfair, had Hrodûrim never showed up, it was possible they never would have found the taurn.

“Like I said earlier, there were thousands of possibilities to this moment right now. Even now I’m interfering in a way I shouldn’t, but it’s not enough to make the universe crack and cause another Carn.”

“And you’ve just magically seen all this?” Kyungsoo rebuked. How on earth could he possibly know so much?

“Yes. I saw enough of the possibilities to this moment. Albeit illegally, I snuck into the Hall of Five and looked into the well and looked to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“Okay, so if you can only help us so much, what is considered too much?” Kyungsoo asked with a rather annoyed tinge to his voice as they stood before a large cave opening. There were wooden signs about the cave and broken boards that once boarded up the entrance.

“Doing too much would be getting the taurn for you. _You_ , have to go in there yourselves and get it. I can get you in through Kai’s calus; only after a certain amount of time can I then get you out. I was not built to withstand the forces of any dimension outside of the third, as are you, so you must get in and get right out. I don’t know what could happen if you’re in for too long. The fourth dimension is unpredictable, not many have contact with those who live within it and vice versa—”

“Any knowledge that my people have gathered on parallel universes or these multiple dimensions is inconclusive. We cannot produce statistics enough since we simply do not exist or were made for it. We’ve had explorations into black holes and none of have survive, what you are asking is suicide.” Kai spoke with a low and hostile voice.

“Maybe… I could be… But without my help, you would never find the next taurn. Your journey would have ended back at that house. And if you don’t go in there and retrieve it, then we will _all_ die. Do you understand?” Hrodûrim spoke through a low voice, his lips hardly moving as if his teeth were grated.

“Then I will go it alone.” Kai straightened his chest out.

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m going with you.”

“A human is much to weak to enter the fourth dimension. It is best I go in alone.”

“And what if something happens to you? Who’s going to get you out?!” Kyungsoo walked up to Kai, cornering him and giving off a rather threatening feeling.

Kai simply raised a hand pressed Kyungsoo’s shoulder down, making his legs buckle and crumple to the floor. “Stay.”

“Kyungsoo’s right, Kai. You have no of idea what will happen in there. If you were to get in trouble its possible, he could help. The simplicity of a human’s makeup might also be perfect for the complexity of the fourth dimension. He could counter balance all the things your brain can process, meaning he won’t nearly be as overloaded as you will.”

Kai’s face went still, his brows furrowed and eyes searching furiously for the correct answer.

“In other words, Kai, he’ll be saving you rather than you saving him.” Hrodûrim added in a gentle voice, though it was slightly manipulative to change Kai’s mind.

“…Fine. I will allow you to go.”

Kyungsoo snickered, “I was going to go whether you wanted or not.” He stood up and wiped his robes.

“Good.” Hrodûrim smiled and led them into the large opening of the cave. It went down for miles, dark and damp with the only light coming from the opening outside. Abandoned wheel barrel like contraptions, buckets and picks had been scattered. Wooden beams and arches were built to encompass the cave to keep from collapsing. “The taurn was hidden in this cave system, since its energy signature is powerful enough to read from the robots back on Krakatos—”

“How do you know—” Kyungsoo muttered.

“—I’ve been watching you guys from my realm since you left. Very closely. The energy signature was powerful enough to read from the fourth dimension. That means no one has gone there and messed with it since it was put there. Now, the fourth dimension reflects the world around us, meaning you can’t just go into the fourth dimension anywhere and you’ll find the taurn. You’ll have to go in at the right spot, which is here. There’s a good chance you will not find it right away, which means you will still have to look for it.. I will give you ten minutes total to do this. Time is not the same in there as it is out here, there it’s non-linear, not consecutive. But always relative. It will always be there. Do not touch anything, I repeat, _anything_ once you’re in there. They are tesseracts and you should never take them lightly. You don’t know what it could be or what it could mess up. It’s also possible you’ll be separated the moment you two enter, do everything you can to find one another. I don’t know what will happen, but you have to find it. Ten minutes is all I’m allotting, if you don’t find it within that time span, then… We’ll have to try again. But you must find it.”

“How do we know if we find it? Won’t being in the fourth dimension distort it if it was made in the third?” Kyungsoo asked as he was holding onto Kai’s sleeve, the darkness of the cave made it hard to see.

“I don’t know.”

“What if we can’t physically touch it or interact with it because we are third and it is in the fourth?” Kai asked this time.

“I don’t know.” Hrodûrim answered with more apathy.

“What if—”

“I don’t know! Okay?! I honest to god have no idea of will happen. You just…” He sighed and calmed himself down by closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “You just need to get in there and get out.” When he opened them again, he saw as both Kai and Kyungsoo with interlocked fingers, he huffed with a laugh. “Doesn’t take much to change your mind does it?”

“Honestly, at this point. No.” Kyungsoo answered and tightened his grip on Kai’s hand.

Kai did not answer and simply held onto the human’s hand.

“Then, are you guys ready?”

“Are we where we need to be?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Just about. I can activate a link between dimensions through his calus, so make sure you hold onto each other tight. Alright?”

Both males nodded their head as Hrodûrim approached. Kai held out his arm with the calus and wrapped the other around Kyungsoo’s waist to pull him taut against him.

“Remember, don’t touch anything. And don’t linger too long, just get in and get out with the taurn.”

“We’ll try our best.” Kyungsoo said as Hrodûrim pressed and twisted on the keys.

“I need better than try.” Hrodûrim looked down at the pale human, seeing him plainly though the cave was nearly pitch black.

“We’ll _do_ our best.” Kyungsoo corrected himself.

“That’ll have to do.” Hrodûrim stopped pressing on the device. “It’s ready. Remember, ten minutes, then I’m pulling you out.”

“Wait, how will you get us out? Don’t you need the calus?”

“No, for a short time a tear between dimensions will open and I can reach in and grab you to take you out. I am a servant of the God of Time, I can manipulate into the fourth dimension only a small amount. Just enough to get you out before it destroys me, understand?”

“Right…” Kyungsoo breathed, it was shaky, and he could feel his limbs slowly melting as if he was ready to faint. Suddenly, he did not feel so ready to take on this task, it was happening all so suddenly.

“Good. I’ll count you in… Three. Two… One.” He pressed the last button and two males were gone within a distorted flash of light.

֍  ҉  ֎

Everything was dark, not a spec of light could be seen for miles. Kyungsoo couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, no matter how many times he rubbed them and shut them tight only to open to the same dark color. There was literally nothing. He could hear nothing, and he could feel nothing. Not the cold, not warmth nor Kai. Kai was no longer at his side.

Looking down and trying to see his hands was impossible, for the blackness consumed everything.

“Kai!” He tried to speak out to the abyss, yet no sound escaped his lips. Instead, the name echoed like a bell in his thoughts, swaying back and forth until he felt dizzy.

He tried calling out again, this time sparks of light flittering out of his mouth as he did so. It made him physically sick in that moment—like he was on a boat in the middle of a hurricane, swaying way out of tune.

He let a foot step forward and felt nothing, no solid ground and no bottom, though he couldn’t tell if he was falling or floating. He let another foot step forward while reaching a hand out, trying to gasp for air as he did so. The air was thin and far too little for him to properly breathe once he became aware of it.

As he suffocated in his spot, he struggled to make his way somewhere, leading his flailing limbs anywhere just to get a good breath of air. When suddenly, something began rapidly approaching him, he covered his face and braced for the impact only to have nothing happen. Not even a gust of wind blew by his ears. He peeked slowly between his arms, only to see the same nothing as before. He could have sworn he had seen the flash of something race for him just moments ago; like the way glass reflects light. He reached out a hand carefully, wanting to see if it would touch anything, only to have it disappear through a crystallized field. He yanked his hand back with a yelp and could still feel a tingling sensation pulse from his hand to his wrist. He looked up, then to his left and right and for good measure he looked behind himself and below. Everything looked black, the same in all directions. Kyungsoo took his hand carefully once more and let it slip past the geometric anomaly and allowed his body to step through.

On the other side was white, everything was pure and blinding white. He let his hand reach out to see if there would be another wall in front, though there was nothing. He turned around and tried to if his body would walk back through the wall, however, nothing seemed to happen.

“What the fuck..” He muttered, this time he could hear his words as they twisted around his body and distorted into funky shapes in his ears. It was hard to explain, like everything was constantly bending and distorting itself.

In this white place he could feel solid ground, enough so to walk forward and watch as his body bend with the sound of his voice. Every time he lifted his knees, they would reach out further than the length they were, like someone had been using a snapchat filter to elongate them in a curved fashion. His head felt fuzzy, like the static of a VHS tape after its ended movie—it was suffocating to his mind. Everything felt like it was out of balance, twisting and turning with the simplest of walking movement. A cold sweat began to form on his head, beads swelling enough to trickle down his temple and make him gasp. His eyes were bloodshot, opening wide and shutting tight just so he could properly see, though there was nothing much to see. Everything was just white.

He spent not too long fixating himself on the uncomfortable state of his body, and could hear the faint muffled sound of music in the distance. It was very muffled and distorted, like a record player trying to produce an old sound. He walked in the direction of the sound, trying to figure out what song it was, it was so oddly familiar.

Not too far off in the distance, he could see the dark color of something. As he walked closer to it, the larger the image came and the clearer the sound became. The song was Can’t Help Falling in Love, the version he showed to Kai all that time ago. Subconsciously, Kyungsoo found himself humming along to it, his voice echoing as if underwater.

When he arrived at the edge of the colored scene, he noticed the glass like structure from earlier and all the geometric shapes it possessed were pulsing as it showed a scene in the ground. Kyungsoo was confused by the image, he was looking down into his apartment as Kai was dancing to the song. He was also there, watching the alien dance as he stood in the hallway of the bathroom. It was an exact replica of the memory he savored in his mind, but now he could see himself _and_ Kai and that was an unnerving though. Despite the odd ability to view this cherished memory from the ceiling of his apartment, he could also see through them. He could see a pumping heart, blood vessels and organs all pulsing and working through their clothes. Each place his eyes trailed he could see what lay beneath the skin.

Kyungsoo found himself mesmerized by Kai’s dancing and had half a mind to reach down and put his hand through the barrier. He would have done it too if it weren’t for Hrodûrim’s words telling him not to touch anything.

As he watched the two beings interact, not a sound of English came from their mouths. What he did notice though, was a small bug crawling by his feet on the white surface. It was a lady bug. Kyungsoo raised a brow at the bug and bent over to pick it up on instinct. As the lady bug bumped into his finger it was spooked and quickly spread its wings, flying straight down into the playing memory. He gasped at his mistake and watched as Kai and himself watched the lady bug land on the ground and Heddy attack it.

“What…” Kyungsoo tried to say through all the fuzziness of his head. It made no sense, he was sure that the lady bug was crawling just in front of his feet, how could it also be in his apartment? He remembered seeing the lady bug all that time ago, but was he the one who caused it? Was this technically past or present? Where on a linear scale did this even take place? It was uncertain if this was a memory that was replaying, or if this was space-time acting as a linear being and showing him an event that was playing at the same time. He knew little of Einstein’s work of relativity and the fourth dimension so the scene before him was extremely baffling.

Kyungsoo stumbled backwards, his head was beginning to hurt with an immeasurable amount of pain. He tripped over his feet and crawled as far away as he could from the images, not wanting anything more to do with it.

But as he crawled back, his hands fell through the ground, through one of the geometric glasses and down he fell. Falling and falling for what felt like a lifetime. Or was he just suspended in air again? He could not tell as everything was black again, no wind rushed by and there was no solid surface.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9VCNXROgjY&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym&index=7) - the mines crumble

Eventually his feet hit solid surface again, now he could see his hands and body. His head still hurt and was fuzzy, twisting and turning in every which way. As he raised his hands, he could see how they bent to the side and stretched, as if a heavy wind was taking them away. Kyungsoo panicked at this and looked up, yelling out for Kai as sweat trickled from his forehead and out into the open space. His voice was once again eaten by the lack of air to carry it around, though he could hear its demonic and distorted call screaming inside his mind. It was not a comforting sound. He closed his eyes and covered his ears as the satanic sounding voice echoed again.

 _Go away, go away, go away, go away!_ He repeated over and over in his head before something whispered by his side. It rushed by with the voice of ten children all muddled together. Kyungsoo raised his head, tears streaming down his red face as he listened for the sounds again.

To his left the sound came again, this time he could more distinctly hear a woman’s voice above the many children.

“Here, over here.” The voices said above the unintelligible whispers as they raced by. Kyungsoo had no idea of where they were leading to or where they wanted him to go. He turned every which way until he faced a pedestal, where a purple orb with a bright green and yellow energy blaring about it. It was gorgeous with the way light twinkled about it. Was this what Kai saw when he looked at the orbs?

Kyungsoo found one foot stepping after the other, until he broke out into a panicked run. He had no idea of how much time had passed and he was sure this was the taurn. But as he raced closer, the flash of a glass reflection had appeared a second too late and Kyungsoo crashed head first into a solid cold wall. He tumbled back down on his rear and noticed how there was no longer an orb on the other side of the glass, instead it was to his right. Kyungsoo stood up and stepped backwards, switching his view from the front to side and watched as the taurn appeared in front.

“What the fuck.” He muttered and stepped forward, watching as the taurn switched from the front position to the right. He stepped back slowly and watched as it slowly transitioned to the front of him.

Kyungsoo bit his lip and ran straight once more, this time using his shoulder to jump into the glass wall. He threw himself a couple more times after when it had no initial effect. It was like a reflection, the way it was somehow being viewed from both places, like it was trap. Despite being able to see it one place, you would never be able to have it since it was actually in another.

The voices flourished by once more, whispering “Here, here, here” in echoed softness. The sounds came from below Kyungsoo and caused him to look down. There he could see a glow shining brightly from his pocket, one that was brilliantly golden with a hint of green. He reached in and pulled out the emerald taurn, the one Amy had possessed. The orb of good luck, Kyungsoo thought how Kai must have switched it out of his calus and slipped it into the pocket of his robe before they left.

He held the orb in his hand, watching as the energy flowed in circles about it and some stray flares breaking off and falling out into the dark abyss. He looked up at the glass wall where the purple orb was, the right side to be exact. His head still felt swollen, his body stiffening up the longer he stayed looking back and forth between his hand and the wall. His mind could barely even make a deducted conclusion before he charged at the wall with a raised hand and smashed it with the taurn.

The glass wall shattered, breaking into thousands of sharp geometric pieces that fell far into the abyss at his feet. As the glass fell, so did a giant white clothed being. It fell hard on top of Kyungsoo, crushing him duly.

“Kai!” He yelled, though his voice could not be heard. He was hardly bothered at all by the fact that he was being crushed.

It took Kai a second before he could comprehend what just happened, but eventually he removed himself from Kyungsoo and carefully held the human’s face in his large hands. He bore an expression of utter concern, checking for anything that might have gone wrong. His face was pale and eyes bright and golden, sweat also floated away from his face. It seemed like he too was having a tough time where ever he was.

Kyungsoo raised a hand and let it stroke Kai’s face gently, showing him that he was okay with an easy smile.

Kai returned the smile, his chest heaving as he let out a sigh of relief.

Their moment was short lived when the ground (if it could be called that) began to violently shake. The two males quickly stood to their feet and assessed the situation. Glass like shards began fall from above, down into their direction. Kai quickly grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and grabbed the purple taurn on the ground. Once the purple taurn was safe in his bag he pulled Kyungsoo along and ran in the opposite direction. The only problem was that the glass shards were falling in every which direction, not just from top to bottom, but now from the sides. Amazingly enough they were running by unscathed, but it did not stop the fact that the world was changing. The geometric shapes of the glass shards would collide with one another, change into another shape, then break into another. The space around them still shook violently, causing a sound like thunder to echo in their ears.

Had they remained any longer they surely would have become one with the dimension, but Hrodûrim was there and pulled them out with steady hands. In fact, he was the one who had been causing the mess in the dimension, as he was trying to break in to steal them away. It was a successful extraction, though for a great price.

Kyungsoo and Kai had entered the cave and stumbled on their feet. They could still feel the vibrations in their feet though for a different reason. The cave had been heavily influenced by the forced entry into the fourth dimension and was collapsing as a result. The cave was not stable enough to endure the time-space warping, let alone the forced entry into the fourth dimension.

“Did you get it?!” Hrodûrim asked in a rushed voice, the thundering rocks in the walls was deafening.

“Yes!” Kai and Kyungsoo answered in unison, they had still been holding hands.

“Good! NOW RUN!” Hrodûrim yelled at the very top of his lungs and pushed the two males forward.

There was not nearly enough time to run out, the walls were shaking, and rocks were falling from overhead. Running and trying to doge the fallen rocks in the dark was a daunting task, so much to the point that Kai had missed a wheel barrel behind a rock and tripped over it, hard. He fell face first after his legs bent in a nasty way on the old metal. The bag of taurns had ripped from his side and scattered to the ground. Hrodûrim cursed as he picked up what he could and helped Kai to his feet.

More rocks fell violently from the ceiling, making Kai punch in a set of numbers to his wrist as Hrodûrim gathered the last of the taurns in the pouch.

Kyungsoo on the other hand had run further back, chasing after the yellow orb that had traveled too far.

“We’ll never make it out in time, you have to teleport!” Hrodûrim yelled to Kai, and proceeded to yell for Kyungsoo when he realized how far away he was.

“Grab onto me!” Kai yelled as he was ready to press the button, but only realized too late that Kyungsoo was so far away.

“Shit!” Hrodûrim cursed as he sprinted for Kyungsoo, flapping his wings lowly as the cave was much to small to let them spread fully.

“Gotch’ya.” Kyungsoo said breathlessly once a rock had fallen and stopped the yellow orb from moving any further. When he stood up to look for Kai, he was met with the large winged man charging for him.

He wrapped strong arms around Kyungsoo’s body and hulled him back. “Teleport as soon as you touch each other!” Hrodûrim yelled over the thunderous rocks that were now falling as boulders. He slipped the pouch of taurns onto the human’s hands, hoping he would grab onto it tightly. Kyungsoo, completely taken aback by the speed at which they were moving, could do nothing _but_ hold for dear life onto the bag.

Hrodûrim was unable to outmaneuver one of the boulders and it crushed his wings and legs to the ground. He tossed Kyungsoo forward and watched as he crashed to the ground.

“GO!” Hrodûrim yelled as the boulders fell duly on top of his body.

Kyungsoo had the wind knocked out of him as he tumbled on the ground, trying to get his mind back in the right place after spinning around so violently. “No, come with us,” he slurred as he tried to look up. It was for the best he could not comprehend his surroundings, Hrodûrim’s body being desecrated by the boulders was not a pleasant sight. There before him, though, was Kai, rushing over with his wrist glowing bright and ready for transportation. They collided with a large knock after Kai skidded on the ground and wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo, it was barely enough for him to try his hardest to grab onto. But the transportation was not easy. The momentum of Kai ramming into the human was enough to keep them mobile and jolting around while they transported. It was beyond difficult to explain but for some reason Kyungsoo could hardly get a grip on the elf.

By the time the warping of traveling ended, Kyungsoo had fallen face first into a petrifyingly cold layer of soft snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjois


	12. While expressing our true emotions

֍  ҉  ֎

Violent wind surrounded as Kyungsoo lifted his head, snow blowing into his eyes and layering the hairs that poked out from his eyebrows and head. He squinted through the biting cold that began drawing tears from his eyes. Everything was gray and white, no sun shined, no light of sky—just an overcast of clouds that seemed to take joy in covering Kyungsoo in its blizzard weather. The cold seeped into his robes, making him stand quickly and grab the bag of orbs he had dropped, of course, the overwhelming surge of emotions added to the major discomfort he was experiencing. His robes were of dense material, but this cold was beyond something a human could palate.

“Kai?” He called out; his voice not nearly as loud as he had hopped, it seemed like it wanted to stay hidden. Kyungsoo turned in every direction, nothing but a landscape of snow and white speckled horizon lay beyond what his eyes could see. “Kai?!” He yelled this time, but he could barely hear it as the wind took his voice from his very lips. He couldn’t even hear his own footsteps because the wind had been so loud on his face.

He trudged through the heavy layers of snow to the best of his ability, shivering more and more with each step. It was a dense fresh layer of snow that made traveling particularly difficult. His legs quickly grew sluggish as they felt like they were hardly making any distance, snow fluffing and disbursing but never moving more than an inch at a time. His clothes melted with mixture of his little warmth and frozen crystals; then quickly froze it back into place, it made the trek all the more exhausting. Had anyone seen the actual temperature of the place they would know that a human could not last nearly as long without Xanin’s gift of Resilience. Without that and the robes, he would have frozen to death in under five minutes, like the average human would. Yet, amazingly enough, Kyungsoo lasted fifteen minutes before his body failed and fell to his knees. His vision blurred through his tears but what he couldn’t help but notice was the blinding red light that surrounded him. He looked up to find a massive ship in the sky, sinking down with each second that he processed. It was dark in comparison to the white landscape, dark reds and blacks colored it heavily, at least it seemed that way with the red light blaring in his eyes. It did not matter though, for his eyes shut tight and he fell face first into the snow. The cold was slowly shutting him down—his violent shivers turning into twitches, and a terrible numbness scorching through his hands and feet.

He had accepted his fate. He would die there with the orbs in his hands and Kai would probably never find him. It was unfortunate, but he had to accept that there was nothing else he could do.

֍  ҉  ֎

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzoVQf3B9o) - ambient sounds

Kyungsoo woke with a jolt, his body warm—significantly warmer than it had been before falling asleep. He was sure he was dead though, had it not been for the fire in front of him he would have assumed he was dead. But no, instead there was blaring firepit lighting up cavernous walls that shined with the fire, like a coat of glass layered the rock beneath. A thick fur blanket enveloped him in a glorious case of warmth, it was a wonderful contrast to the howling winds from behind. When he turned his head around, he noticed that there was an opening to the blizzard outside; he had been situated in another cave.

Something gurgled in an uncomfortable manor back in front of him, the sound was like that of camel, bellowing and low. He wasn’t sure how he missed it when he woke up, but there was a large creature with slim legs and tall neck like a llama. It was puffy in a curly wool-like fur with antlers that poked out the sides. It had been chewing on something, its mouth grazing back and forth to chew the grass substance.

Another sound then proceeded to clear its throat (or so Kyungsoo thought) as he slowly sat up from the ground. He whipped his head to the noise and found not what he had been expecting. A person, round and thick in a heavy coat, sporting circular goggles, a large round nose and thick mustache. Everything else of its face was covered by a scarf and fur hat.

“Who are you?” Kyungsoo quickly asked as he scuttled back into himself, using the blanket to cover him.

“Ink.” Came the gruff voice of the person.

“Ink?”

“Yes, Ink.”

“O-Okay, where am I?”

“In my home.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and took a quick survey of the area behind the stranger. It was indeed a home, there was something that looked like a bed, wall-units built in the glacial walls and counters filled with food.

“Okay, but how did I get here?”

“I saved you. You were dying out in the cold, so I picked you up before that nasty Allve ship could get you.”

“A-Allve? I didn’t imagine that?”

“Nope, you were coherent enough for that probably. Though, I do find your circumstances very curious. The fact you seem to have a very angry Allve ship after you and a bag of a curious gems. Very curious indeed.” His voice was not pleasant to really listen to, hoarse and in need of a good clearing.

Kyungsoo quickly panicked and looked around for the bag of orbs, when he spotted it by his feet he picked it up and immediately checked its contents.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find all them there. I have no business with you or what you have in there.” Kyungsoo physically relaxed once all were accounted for. “Though, one must wonder, what you are doing?”

“I.. I can’t tell you… It’s technically top secret, but have you seen my friend? Tall, white hair and is also Allve?”

“I regret to inform you that I have not.”

Kyungsoo slumped his shoulders. He could only wonder where Kai was, if he was stuck out in the blizzard or if they had accidentally traveled to two different worlds.

“By the looks of your bag, you could use another gem there.”

“Yes…” Kyungsoo started cautiously. “How do you know that?”

“Because I know there are eight in total, and that the head city of this earth possesses one.”

“Really?! Can you help me get it? I need the last one!”

“As tempting as that sounds, I’ll need to know why first. Of course, taking the gem away may very well destroy the city as we know. It powers all of the capital.”

“Oh.. Fuck..” Kyungsoo’s face fell, this was a tough pickle. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, Carn?”

“Carn?” The man snorted. “Carn is a fairytale. But most know it.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s real or not. I’ve never seen it myself, but I have seen the darkness in the sky where stars should blatantly be.. I have been on a quest for some time now trying to retrieve these orbs and put an end to it. It turns out that Carn has been consuming everything in its path at a very fast pace and will end all universes ever known… Xanin, or whatever, sent my friend and I out to stop Carn—”

“Xanin? Oh I’ve heard of that fellow. He’s responsible for this planet’s chaos. I know that name rather well.” Ink seemed to brood.

“Really?” Kyungsoo questioned with a raised brow. Xanin was a very curious being. He seemed to be at the root of most unexplainable phenomena. “Is he worshiped like a god here?”

“Oh no, far from it. And if he is, then it’s by some weird cult. He’s more of a public enemy to this planet. But again, those are just fairy tales we grow up with.”

“Huh…” That was a very odd notion about Xanin. “Well.. Thank you for saving me. But I really need that last orb, is there anyway.. You could get me there?”

“Of course there is. I didn’t live forty years there for nothing.”

“So then you’ll take me?” Kyungsoo perked.

“No.”

“W-Why not?” Kyungsoo’s face quickly fell.

“‘Cause that’s not something you can just simply do. Don’t you have a friend you need to look for first?”

“I do! I mean, yes, I do… But I don’t even know where to start… I don’t even know if he’s on the same planet..”

“That is quite the predicament.”

“And if he is… Oh god… I hope he’s not frozen to death.. I have to go find him…” Kyungsoo shot up and let the blanket fall from his shoulders, an immediate blast of cold air hit him. He had no idea that his outer layer of robes had been removed. Kyungsoo panicked and quickly threw the blanket back on.

“Oh no you don’t. It’s way too cold for you to go anywhere dressed like that. Your friend is Allve. I’m sure they’re managing just fine.”

Kyungsoo eventually sat back down and gazed around the cave for his clothes.

“You are looking for something?” Ink asked.

“Yes, where are my clothes?”

“Hanging over here by my heater. They were too wet to keep wearing.”

Kyungsoo craned his neck and found his clothes on a metal rack by a tall looking stick that glowed a perfect orange hue. Kyungsoo visibly relaxed when he saw his clothes.

“They’re almost dry, don’t worry.” Ink assured with a nod.

“..How long was I out?”

“Not long, a few ticks at best.”

Kyungsoo pretended as if he knew what that meant and nodded his head. A few ticks was equivalent to about half an hour.

“Say now, what are you? You’re a bit too weak and pale for an Allve, too small for an Arken and much too thin for a Piq. Where are you from? The language you speak is… odd,” Ink asked as he leaned over his large knees, it looked as if he was using his hands to ‘speak’ and get his point across but the gestures were just awkward.

“I-I’m Human. I’m not from around here or that Eletrin.. Protocol, Pact, whatever it is, Human’s apparently exist on a completely different part of the universe.” The first question Kyungsoo had after that was how Ink knew English if he had never heard of it before?

“Interesting,” Ink sat back in his seat and kept his gaze in Kyungsoo’s direction through the fire.

The silence was uncomfortable and Kyungsoo hadn’t the slightest clue of where to look or what he should be doing. But then his mind quickly forgot all his worries and focused on one worry only, Kai. The longer he sat in his spot and thought the himself the more destructive he felt. He truly did not know what to do; he hated how weak he was and how useless and insignificant it meant to be human. Kai was probably out there suffering and what could he do to help? The human hunched over and let the palms of his hands rest on his eyes.

Kyungsoo had been so stressed by his thoughts that he literally stayed there for a solid ten minutes. Mulling through everything, piece by piece and trying to understand the nature of how and why everything was happening the way it was happening.

“I think your friend’s here.” Ink announced with a grumble to break the silence.

Kyungsoo raised his head and looked at the alien before him, tilting his head in confusion. Only the glare of the Ink’s goggles signaled him to look behind himself. Kyungsoo turned over his shoulder and there, down by the cave opening was a tall white silhouette with stark dark skin contrasting to everything else. The silhouette was hunched over in an overbearing manner, a hand on the wall, and deep breaths pulsing in and out made the figure seem ready to succumb to the cold. Kyungsoo shot out of his seat before the person could prepare themselves and crashed into them with a more than deserved warm hug. He had wrapped his blanket around the male and buried his face into the elf’s alarmingly cold chest. Kyungsoo had never been happier in all his life to see Kai, albeit he was on the verge of death, it was still comforting. Kai was stunned by the action but eventually returned the affection by wrapping frozen hands around the small human and holding him close. He rested his head on top of Kyungsoo’s and unbeknownst to the smaller of the two, he had taken a deep breath of the scent that radiated from there (the wind outside was just a tad too loud for anyone to hear him do so). Kai reveled in the warmth that radiated from Kyungsoo’s body in the blanket, holding him even closer just to get that warmth he desperately needed.

“How did you get here?” Kyungsoo asked as he brought his head up, still wrapped in each other’s arms.

“You seem to forget what I am in comparison to you.” He smiled with bright white teeth and nearly purple lips. “I appeared not too far from here and searched for you for as long as I could.. But I was sure that you were… You did not..” Kai’s words caught in his throat and his eyes pleaded with something sad. “When I gave up hope I looked for shelter and found this cave, by pure chance, I found you here.” Kai raised a hand and let his thumb gently stroke the soft and rosy cheek of the human. A tender, yet melancholic smile dressed his purple lips. This hurt Kyungsoo physically to see and quickly dragged him toward the fire. “I’m sorry for our separation. I didn’t mean for it to happen, I—”

“It’s fine, just sit down and get warm.” Kyungsoo said curtly as he forced the elf to sit and wrapped his blanket around him. The blanket was quite large, too large for the length of Kyungsoo’s body and just enough to cover Kai like a hood all the way to his feet.

Kai allowed himself to be dotted on and watched Kyungsoo with a gentle gaze. Ink had already been in the process of gathering another blanket and duly wrapped Kyungsoo’s small shoulders in the dark fur oversized blanket. Kyungsoo thanked him with a gracious smile, but quickly focused his attention back on the freezing elf. He needed in front of him and removed the now thawing shoes he had been wearing and placed them by the fire to dry. Kyungsoo raised Kai’s muscular leg and wrapped his hands duly around his toes and feet. They were perfect feet, veins popping out and arched perfectly. They produced no smell and had nearly no fault in how perfect and straight they were. Kyungsoo had a nasty urge to raise the leg and press it to his face because of how smooth and perfect they looked.

But of course, once Kyungsoo sat on the ground and stayed there trying to warm his feet up—Kai retracted and tried to make him stand. They spoke in soft words to each other, arguing that one should stop and the other should shut up and take it. Kai had no energy to refute and let the human do as he pleased though the guilt burned terribly at his stomach. Of course, a lovely shade of pink graced his features as he did so.

“I sure haven’t seen something like that in a while.” Ink said as he sat back down across the fire with the odd sounds of liquid coming from him. Like water had been sloshing around.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked as he turned over his shoulder, Kai seemed to just stare the stranger down with a hard gaze.

“Well, I haven’t seen interactions between anything of much lately. So, don’t mind me,” He waved them off. “You must be the Allve.”

“Moka’inim Akimai’ith.”

“Oh, the banished Prince of Eleto. I am honored.” He bowed his head slightly. “I hear you’re on a quest then?”

“Yes. The end of the universe is upon us and I would see it stopped.”

“Well.. Hearing that coming from you is more unnerving than I thought.” Ink chuckled. “You can call me Ink.” Kyungsoo grimace at the statement, it seemed a little unfair that Ink would readily believe Kai over him, but it made sense. After all, Kai’s people were one of the most renowned in the universe. Kai himself was probably popular being the former Crown Prince of a planet, so, yeah, it made sense.

“Greetings Ink, how do you know English? You are Rakuthian, and I’m almost sure no one this side of the universe has ever heard of English or humans.”

“Translator.” He pulled a device from under his scarf and presented a small metal thing before putting it back. “He talks in his sleep so I could record a few things and it gave me a break down of the language.”

“Asleep? We were separated for a short period of time, how did you sleep?” Kai looked to Kyungsoo with surprise.

“Well, it was more of an unconscious state than sleep, he passed out in the snow when I found him. Right after an angry Allve ship found him.”

Kyungsoo thought nothing of what Ink was telling, it was the truth after all. It wasn’t until he looked back at Kai to find him frozen with an utterly distraught expression.

“What did the ship look like..?” Kai asked carefully, he wanted to keep collected before he jumped to any conclusions.

“Dark, really dark. I’ve never seen one outside of the bright colors you use. But the shape was absolutely Allve, and the insignia was scratched off.”

Kai looked to the ground, his face so serious and eyes searching for every possible answer he needed. If it was who he thought it was, which he was almost certain it was, his and Kyungsoo’s life were at the greatest risk they had ever been.

“Word travels fast around stars, my friend. The banished prince of Eleto was banished with another: the merchant’s daughter. The daughter who made a deal with a devil and destroyed much of your city. And it would seem she’s found you again.”

As Kyungsoo looked back and forth between Kai and Ink, he could see the distress seep into the elf’s heart. Ink’s mustache wiggled with each word he spoke, like an unremorseful robot. Kyungsoo quite honestly wanted to rip it off his face and shove it down his throat, Kai was clearly feeling terrible already. Kyungsoo removed himself from Kai’s feet, covered him up and sat by his side.

“She tried taking him into her ship.” Ink added one last piece of information.

Kai’s head shot up and it scared Kyungsoo for a quick moment. “She knows?” His eyes were filled with a sort of regret Kyungsoo could not explain, a regret that burned deep within.

“Knows…what?” Kyungsoo asked carefully.

“She knows you’re with me… She must have been watching us for a while then, waiting for the right moment to attack. If she could take you, then she would use you as bait to retrieve me. She must know that we’re here anyways. Ink I apologize to have jeopardized your home—”

“I wouldn’t say that just yet. We tunneled under the snow to get away, Kirf was quite fast so I don’t think your friend followed us quite yet.” Ink gestured to the llama-camel creature that was munching away on its grass like material.

“Even so, she can find me anywhere in the universe because of the bond we had before her transformation. We did not bind our souls, but Allve can still create special connections outside of it. And with the Darkness consuming her heart and mind, it focus’s on me, and me alone. It can and has found me. Aleyth, knows we’re here. She’s waiting.”

“For what, though? Just strike now while we’re incapacitated.” Kyungsoo added this time.

“For an opportune moment to strike.” Ink answered for the both. “Which is why you need the orb.” Ink leaned in and seemed to be finally interested in the topic at hand.

“Yes, we must leave at once. If you know the whereabouts of the taurn I would have you tell us.” Kai shivered as a particularly nasty gust of wind blew by. Kyungsoo shuddered at the feeling and inched closer to Kai’s side, which he gladly accepted. Ink, of course, was unphased by the weather. Today was a particularly warm day, in fact.

“You’ll find what you need in due time. But it’ll cost ya.” Ink harrumphed, an odd squeak coming from his being as he did so.

“I don’t imagine money would be of much use to you in the Wastes of Rak.” Kai inquired with a straight face.

“Truth. I desire something more realistic. Security.”

“Security of what?” Kai asked.

“Me. I want immunization to what will ensue in the future, security from that angry Allve fellow and what will happen if you take the orb.”

Both Kai and Kyungsoo furrowed their brows, Kyungsoo for a different reason—wondering what would happen when they took the orb. Kai was unsure if he would be able to keep a promise of security like that. Aleyth did as she pleased, and he could not control that.

“I cannot guarantee you safety from Aleyth. That is impossible.”

“Oh but it is possible.” Ink straightened his back, his goggles glaring in the flicker of the fire pit. “Him.” Ink raised a grubby gloved finger to point at Kyungsoo.

Both Kai and Kyungsoo were dumbfounded and looked to one another for a quick moment before looking back at Ink.

“Why me?” Kyungsoo laughed uncomfortably.

“You’re my insurance to security. If I have you, then I can offer you to Aleyth if I were to get involved.”

No one had seen it coming, just a flash of white hair and clothes that leapt over the fire in a single spring as he pulled out the decorative knife from the sheath behind his back.

“I would have you hung by your feet at the top of the most treacherous mountain here and watch as you slowly bled to death.”

Kyungsoo sprung to his feet the moment his brain could process what had happened; shedding his blanket and dashing for the elf. He grabbed hold of his arm and yanked quite hard, enough to actually make Kai stumble back. It wasn’t because Kyungsoo was particularly strong at that moment, but because Kai was very weak and quite out of the right state of mind.

“What is the matter with you?!” Kyungsoo spat and tugged until they were both behind the fire, freezing with each second that they were exposed to the air. “We need him alive, so just sit down and listen!” He led the elf down to his seat in a rather harsh manner and wrapped him quickly with the blanket again. “…You’re usually the calm and collected one.” He mumbled under his breath. He did not miss the severe look in Kai’s eyes, though, the complication that must have been swarming through his thoughts.

As Kyungsoo wrapped his blanket around himself, Kai had leaned over to cover Kyungsoo in his blanket as well, using his arm to hold it in place. It was an extremely possessive move that made Kyungsoo only slightly annoyed because Kai was being rather childish. But the idea of Kai wrapping his arm and cuddling him was an encouraging thought above the possessiveness.

“You need to calm down.” Kyungsoo whispered almost murderously.

Kai simply let his head fall over and rest on the side of Kyungsoo’s, his white hair falling over like perfect strands of ice and covering some of the human’s shoulder.

“I am sorry.” Kai whispered in Kyungsoo’s ear. It was so genuine and so tight in the elf’s throat that Kyungsoo started to feel guilty at his own actions.

“Hrm..” Ink grumbled as he thought out loud. “This is one of those moments where I should leave. Right?”

Kyungsoo looked at Ink with a raised brow and pulled mouth, what did that mean?

“Rakuthians do not pick up on body language or “sense the mood of the room” like other races. But we have training in special classes so that we do know.” Ink said as he got up with a squeak and started walking for his animal. “The City was good for at least a couple things. I’ll leave you two be.”

“What? No no, you don’t have—” Kyungsoo started as he watched Ink gather a few things.

“Yes, you should talk over my terms. I will go and check a perimeter around the mountain for any signs of our unwanted friend.” He settled the creature upright and Kyungsoo watched as two thin chicken like back legs and fox like front legs stretched. It stood tall like a camel, though its back slopped down like a kangaroo bending over. Its face was thin and long like a camel, yet with a bundle of thick curly hair covering its eyes.

Ink hopped on top of the creature with ease and saddled its reins in his hands before shouting something awful and taking off. The noise he shouted was abrasive and unkind to Kyungsoo’s ears, like gears grinding on itself but the sound being distorted a couple octaves lower. Only later would he find out that was what Rakuthains naturally sounded like.

Kyungsoo watched until the last moment that Ink and his mount disappeared under the snow by the cave entrance, the cold blizzard wind acting as a screen of white and grey static.

Once Ink was out of range, Kyungsoo felt another hand wrap around his waist and pull him closer. Kai was beginning to bury himself closer into the smaller’s frame, any closer and he would practically be sitting in the elf’s lap. Although a layer of blanket separated their bodies, Kyungsoo could feel how cold the tip of his nose was and the points of his ears. Kai was still freezing cold and may have just been snuggling for warmth, but Kyungsoo was mildly uncomfortable with the fact Kai had never done this before.

“Do you wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked in a soft voice as he turned in his spot, it made Kai release his head from him.

“You are warm.”

It was a lie, Kyungsoo watched as the gold in his eyes sway with shimmers, it was beautiful no doubt, but it was a lie. Well, half a lie. Kyungsoo was indeed warm, but that was not the reason why Kai was holding him so tenderly.

The space between them was very minimal, but Kyungsoo managed to rub his hands together and create a rather large amount of heat on the palms of his hands. He pressed them firmly against the elf’s chilled cheeks and left them there for a moment to let the heat circulate. He moved to Kai’s ears and held them even longer as they nearly felt like icicles. Underneath all the cold, Kyungsoo could feel Kai’s body vibrating, not shivering but vibrating. It was very different but that was how Allve reacted to extreme cold temperatures. They vibrated rather than shivered, like a low hum of energy surging through him.

“Why are you still so cold, can’t you do magic or something to warm yourself? I’m already so warm now.” Kyungsoo basically mumbled to himself but was unopposed to anyone else who would listen.

“I’m far too weak to use any significant kind of magic. I must save my reserves for emergencies.” He spoke in a hushed and soft voice, gazing into Kyungsoo warm velvet eyes with the utmost adoration. The pink haze on Kai’s cheeks was a wonderful sight. But Kyungsoo did not miss the tired look in Kai’s eyes; it broke his heart to see him so weak. The last time he remembered seeing him so defeated was back on Earth, while his body slowly deteriorated with god-knows-what diseases.

“I dunno, this seems like an emergency to me.” Kyungsoo grimaced.

Kai leaned his head down as Kyungsoo still held onto his ears and pressed their foreheads together. “It’s fine as long as we stay like this for a while.” He brought a hand up to coddle Kyungsoo’s face and the other to rest on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and breathed with a steady pace as they stayed there.

It left Kyungsoo in a daze, his eyes far from leaving the face that sat just millimeters in front of him. Like he could just lean in and taste those precious lips in mere seconds. It was a beautiful face, one so perfect and so surreal that Kyungsoo could swear he was dreaming. But through all the beauty, he could see the tension behind Kai’s eyes—the worry that creased his features.

“Kai…” Kyungsoo whispered. “Tell me what’s really wrong.”

Kyungsoo did not miss the twitching of his eye brows. “…I’m just glad you’re alive.”

“Kai.” Kyungsoo said firmly, though still quiet.

It took a moment, but Kai eventually opened his mouth in the same hushed voice, this time it was airier and less vocalized. “…I am frightened.”

Kyungsoo thought back to the ship that hovered above him, the red hew that engulfed his vision, the sheer size it possessed; it was a monumental thing and terrifying all the same. “She’s really scary huh?”

Kai shook his head and brought the hand cradling the smaller’s face down to his neck, letting his hand stroke the soft skin and peeks of hair that laid there. “She is terrifying, more so than anything you can imagine. But that is not what I am afraid of.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows and removed his hands from Kai’s ears. “…What are you afraid of then?”

“Losing you…” Kai said with ease. He could never fully grasp the weight of his words and what they meant to Kyungsoo, but he could imagine they were feeling very similar things.

Kai’s eyes were open by that point, gazing softly into the human’s with those mesmerizing glowing ones of his; the sparkles of energy flowing about them so beautifully. The tattoos on his skin looked luminescent more so than before, bringing an extra beautiful color to his eyes.

Kyungsoo could feel it in his chest, the feeling of “I will do anything for this man” within the snap of a finger. His heart pounded against his chest and his stomach a flourish of emotions that should not have been together. Curiosity, anxiousness, yearning, love, and in the back of his head all the warning signs of “excuse me, you need to be talking about things that are more important to yOUR SAFETY AND WELL BEING???”

“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” Kyungsoo brought his hands back up to Kai’s face and held it firmly, his thumbs stroking the gloriously soft skin there.

“Our journey is coming to its end, Aleyth can attack at any moment, if she does there will be no end. Only to your life, and my own. I tell you constantly that I will protect you, but I cannot even uphold those words. I lost you in the fourth dimension, we barely escaped the cave with our lives, and I lost you on the way here. If the transition between worlds was anymore rough, we could have been separated at different points of traveling. You could have ended up in space, frozen in mere seconds, or—”

Kyungsoo shut the alien up with a kiss.

Nothing extreme, and nothing too innocent. One where he placed his plump lips on the top lip of Kai’s round ones. It did not last long and Kai was frozen with absolute shock at the feeling, but Kyungsoo couldn’t help himself. Everything in his fiber was yelling at him to lean in and kiss those round, luscious lips. He was barely listening to what was coming from Kai’s mouth and the only way he could focus was if he stopped those thoughts from eating away at his head. It was practically an instinct to dive in and connect their lips, wanting to be so much closer than they already were and this was all he could think of.

Kai never responded to the kiss and watched as Kyungsoo’s eyes fluttered shut and gave a light suck on his top lip. Everything inside of the elf felt like it was back tracking—moving backwards and colliding with itself. It made him so confused and so exhilarated at the same time. But the feeling was too overwhelming for him to even doing anything.

By the time Kyungsoo had realized what he had done, he ripped himself away and covered his mouth quickly. (He had also realized in that moment that his mouth was feeling particularly rank as it had been a good long while since he properly brushed.) “Fuck. I’m so sorry. Nonononono, I’m so sorry, my brain.. It just.. It just went—I just went in—I-I’m so sorry—” He tried to back away but Kai’s grip prevented him from doing so. “I was listening to what you were saying but I wasn’t _listening_ and I just… Gah, I’m so sorry. It won’t ever happen again.” Kyungsoo hung his head and found it particularly hard to look the alien in the eye.

Kai just seemed to stay frozen, his eyes wide and watching every little movement that Kyungsoo made.

“..Look,” Kyungsoo started when the silence between them did not lift, he needed to change the subject quick. He was able to push himself from Kai’s arms and let his rear scoot over just a bit. “I get what you’re trying to say. But its not your duty to protect me. You have another mission, one crucial to the entire universe. Even if something happens to me, what’s one life over the trillions upon trillions of life forms across the universe? You can’t always protect me, and I know I can barely manage myself, but I’ll get through it somehow. Okay? Let Ink use me, if it comes down to meeting Aleyth, just let it happen. You take the orbs and get out and save everyone else. Do you understand?” Kyungsoo sat uncomfortably looking at Kai now, twiddling his thumbs not knowing what to do with himself.

“How could you ask me something like that?” Kai finally said slowly as the words processed. “I…” Kyungsoo’s words made sense, what was one over so many more? “..I would rather save one more life, every second I could than to watch one fall… How could you ever ask that of me?” Kai reached out his arms and duly secured them around Kyungsoo’s waist once more, pulling him close. It wasn’t even that he wanted to save one more life if he could, it was that he wanted to save Kyungsoo’s life over theirs.

“I just did.” Kyungsoo chided. “Kai, I’ve never believed for one second that I was meant to be on this journey with you. And if I was, there’s just no possible way I could survive in the end. I’m going to die Kai… I’ve come to terms with that. I’ve thought about it for long enough that none of this makes sense. Why would a weak, puny human who had no actual proof of other life forms in the universe be of use to you? Why couldn’t it have been another person from your planet? Someone much more capable? I don’t even think your god is all cracked up to what you think—” Kai was taken aback by this. “Something was off about him, he didn’t feel right. Like a fox watching you from the shadows to hunt you down at the right moment, all while speaking like a snake. Ink doesn’t even like him for some reason.” Kai let go of Kyungsoo and pulled his blanket away, he put a significantly larger distance between them. “Don’t ignore me! You know there’s something wrong with him! He has a foul air to him Kai! I know you see it, you can sense emotions, and energies far better than I can!”

“Your words are poison, stop talking.” Kai turned so that his back faced Kyungsoo.

“No! Don’t you think it was at least a little bit strange that Hrodûrim came? He came without Xanin’s consent, he did things behind his back. Now I don’t understand the whole history of them or anything, but Hrodûrim is literally an angel, an underling of his superior. Why would an underling work behind his master’s back?”

Kai was silent.

“You know something is wrong. You know Xanin lied to you…” Kyungsoo slowly stood up and carefully let his bare feet tread to Kai’s back. He placed a hand on his shoulder, “…you know I’m going to die.”

Kai stayed hunched over and unresponsive.

“I might as well choose how I die, right? And I choose that it either be by you, or for you.”

Kai turned his head and Kyungsoo could see everything in those sorrow-filled eyes, everything that hurt in a thousand ways. It was wretched on Kyungsoo’s heart, but he could only imagine why Kai looked so distraught.

Kai leaned forward and wrapped his arms, again, around Kyungsoo’s waist, pulling him taught between his legs so that his face was buried in Kyungsoo’s chest. He clutched hard onto the fur blanket, his willingness to let go of the human was so strong and Kyungsoo could feel it. So much that Kyungsoo somehow found a soft smile spread on his lips and let his hands stroke Kai’s hair gently. His hair was damp with wet snow, but silky regardless. The aroma of fruit was not pungent, but it was pleasant. Kyungsoo loved every second of it, but his heart lurched for everything else. Of course, he did not want to die, but he was ready to do it; even if it wasn’t by his choice. He would at least go out with a bang.

Kai spoke into Kyungsoo’s under garments, face still buried in his chest. “I cannot promise to protect you. I don’t know what strength I have in me. But I swear, I will do everything in my power to save you Do Kyungsoo. I am selfish, and greedy. I want you here, beside me, always. Ke avehn.” His gripped tightened on the human. “Mo’onen, Anon ke te’limath.”

Everything around Kyungsoo’s waist seemed to grow just a bit tighter, Kai was hugging him closer and burying his face further. He wished he understood what he was saying but choose not to question it and let Kai hold him.

And as much as Kyungsoo loved how close they were and how intimate he felt, there was nothing more than he wanted than to just have this end already. He wanted to hurry up and get to the point where he would die; to be free of the anxiety of waiting for his death. He wanted to be free of the complex emotions he felt for Kai, for wanting to be with him even though he knew he would not last much longer. He just wanted to stop feeling so uneasy all the time, but it was easier said than done. This anxiety felt like a drug, like if he didn’t feel anxious then something was wrong, or something bad was going to happen. Like he needed to constantly feel anxious because he had been feeling it for so long. What was it like to not live in a constant state a fear? What was it like to not feel like the universe was crumbling before you? It’s real, very much so, you just can’t see it until it starts consuming parts of your life and soon, nothing is left.

He wanted it gone, but it was so…tedious..

He just wanted to be happy with Kai.

֍  ҉  ֎

The planet of Rak was a relatively large planet, consisting of mostly glacial tundras. It snowed fourteen of sixteen months with the remaining two in rain or hail. The average human would freeze in its warmest spot in under ten minutes, even while wearing the warmest arctic gear they could gather. With temperatures so contrastingly cold to Earth, it had allowed the people to adapt in their own unique ways. One way of which was that they split off into separate groups. During the ancient years of Rak, they lived in hunter-gatherer nomad societies, but the hunter-gatherer mindset faded slowly on one part of the world. This part of the world was quick to leave behind tradition for the sake of new discoveries and advancements in technologies. Thus leading to The City being born, modern to the very day that Kyungsoo and Kai had visited the planet. The second part of the planet was home to tribes who still thrived in The Wastes of the planet, refusing to do anything with technology. Both sides are constantly at war, both fighting until one stands on top.

Ink was born to a large tribe in the southern most and coldest part of the planet. Despite growing up in the traditional hunter-gather ways, he had always been very curious of The City and its inhabitants. This curiosity led to his banishment of the tribe and all others in The Wastes, as he decided on his coming of age birthday that he would go to the city and live amongst them. It was a mistake he would forever regret.

The first couple years of his life were okay, hard and filled with prejudice and discrimination. Though he was able to tough it until he reached his way into a rather renowned business company.

“It wasn’t that long ago when I wheedled my way up with hierarchy. I was climbing so high up the official ladder, making too much money and possessing things I clearly did not need. I was blind to see the actual problems it was causing. Those highest in the hierarchy of money and politics controlled everything. Micromanaged the way products were sold, embezzled from the company, those are just a few of the nicer things, I’d rather not name the rest. They controlled everything, take it as you will, but I mean the word very literally. From the leaders of the planet to the homeless and newborns. They decided everything, they made everything, and gladly ruined everything. Death was a necessity to them, if they wanted to thrive they could do so by removing the homeless. If they needed more workers somewhere, newborns were placed under strict care for specific professions. I quite honestly had never been so repulsed, especially when I found out how the general public did not care for the way the conglomerates acted. Those who suffered at their hands were necessary for them to live on comfortably. The sufferers were not their problem. It was sickening… So just about a couple years ago, I gave them a taste of my rathe. I oversaw financial affairs in the company and gladly messed up all international and galactic relations. It was so bad that the economy fell into a recession, for all I know they’re still in the recession.” Ink laughed to himself. “So, because of this tragic error, they sentenced me to death by pain of exile to The Wastes. Little did they know that I grew up in the wastes and could easily thrive. That’s how I got here, for the last couple of years I have lived my own exiled being, unwelcome from my own home and the one I called home for so long.” An air of melancholy and loneliness sat upon the room, like a despair ready to pounce at any given moment.

Kyungsoo found the story quite intriguing, he loved learning about what kind of world Rak was. However, it did not help them get any closer to their destination, and time was running short, he needed information and fast.

“So where does the taurn come in all this?” Kyungsoo asked as he was seated beside Kai, two beings wrapped in one blanket.

“By way of The City…” Ink had waddled his large body through his home and shuffled underneath papers until he was satisfied with one. He brought over a rather medium sized chunk of ice that had been stored away to the side, blending in with the walls. On top of the ice chunk he unfolded an old piece of paper, one that looked like a map of a city. Except that it wasn’t really paper, but more like plastic—thicker than cellophane and more malleable than a bottle. “The City is large, covering itself in a dome of pure energy to keep out the freezing cold and blizzards. Its technology is top notch and is highly sought after, after Allve, of course. And in order to have such advanced technology, one needs a lot of energy. One to power it entirely, to keep the dome working and aid experimentations. All of this energy comes down to one.” Ink let a stubby finger drop on the map and pointed to a circular white orb that was printed to look like it had been glowing in the center of The City. “The taurn, or as we call it, the Great Source, single handedly has been powering The City and everything in it for nearly two hundred years. Ever since its discovery on this planet it has been put to use.”

“If we remove this energy source, then the city will shut down. Hospitals, chemical plants, heat sources will all become incapacitated. How could we just remove it?” Kai interluded this time.

“Truth. But they have plenty back up energy sources, they can survive without. They had no idea what they were dealing with when they found the orb and decided it wasn’t good to rely on something they knew so little about.. Anyway, you’ll need me to get you through the city unnoticed, my years in The City weren’t useless after all. And, I would like to see just a little bit more destruction befall the city.”

“Reaching the taurn will not require stealth through the city. As long as I can connect your streaming consciousness to this,” he held his calus up. “Then we can teleport to the taurn itself, or closest possible location.”

“Stars aligned, that’s a much faster way than anticipated. You’ll barely even need me.” Ink seemed to harrumph, it was hard to tell what all the noises he made meant.

“Yeah, and if we can get in and out, it’ll be fast enough that no one will catch us. Including Aleyth.” Kyungsoo chimed with a determined look upon his face.

No one immediately responded, Ink eventually nodded though Kai stayed distant about the human’s words. Kyungsoo did not let that go unnoticed.

“What is the closest proximity you have been to the taurn?” Kai asked Ink.

“The closest anyone can get. They put it on display at the top of the tallest tower, foreigners and Rakuthians the like visit it as tourists. It was one of the first things I ever did when I moved into The City.”

“Then when I set up my calus, you must think of that place. Have the image of it set in your mind and we will teleport in seconds. Once we retrieve the orb, we will leave immediately back to this location and will leave this planet even sooner after.” Kai laid out the plan as if it would be the easiest thing ever, Kyungsoo knew better. Something was bound to go wrong, like retrieving the orb. It was probably heavily guarded or sealed specially in an unbreakable seal.

“Easier said than done,” Kyungsoo mumbled the more he thought about it.

“Truth! And there is only one way to find out.” Ink stood with a squeak and walked to the side of a cabinet, opening it and rummaging about it for a moment. He stood straight up once his object was found and turned to face the two males. In his hands he fiddled with a metal object, small and quite similar to the way a banana was shaped. The object grew a bright light on the sides and a high pitched sound emitted as if it were charging. When Kyungsoo’s brain could put together all the pieces, he realized that the object was in fact, a gun. “Let’s see how fast we can do this.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> Ke ahven = (dotting expression like:) my soul, my love, my heart  
> Mo’onen, anon ke te’limath. = forgive me, I said a mistake. (technically=said I, a mistake)
> 
> Ink is inspired by Minseok (at least his name is)  
> yeet


	13. Because the end was near

**WARNING:** light gore/torture during Aleyth confrontation

֍  ҉  ֎

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzDPIrEiS-U&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym&index=8) - the white stone

The force of spiraling came to a halt as luminescent white smoke evaporated into thin air. Ink fell over and made a few weird noises—his body was having a difficult time trying to process whatever just happened. Kyungsoo was unphased by the traveling at that point, and thanks to Xanin’s little gift he could also stomach it.

When the white smoke was nearly gone, Kai and Kyungsoo could see miles upon miles of white buildings, one’s rectangle and others round. They stood upon the highest platform in the center of the city, where the last taurn resided; it was the best view that The City could offer. Just through the city skyline they could see peaks of the setting sun, painting a light haze of orange on the white structures about them. However, something did not seem right. It was unusually quiet around the area, minus the blaring cold winds. The City was located in the northern hemisphere of the planet, far from the blizzard going on in the south. But that did not stop the cold winds from blowing relentlessly. There was no hum of energy, no dome that covered the sky above them and the windows in every building appeared pitch black.

Kyungsoo was sure that Ink mentioned a barrier that separated the city from the harsh elements, but why could he so clearly feel wind blaring against his bare face? His robes were still much too thin for the weather, but he and Kai honestly expected something warmer. So did Ink.

“It’s missing.” Ink said from the ground where he was laying. “The Energy Source is missing!” He yelled.

Kai and Kyungsoo quickly looked in the direction that Ink had pointed and found a rather modern looking plinth made of metal. It was curved like an hour glass and white like the rest of the building. It was easy to tell that something was missing from its center with the way glass had been shattered all about its base.

“Shit!” Kyungsoo said with chattering teeth, he brought his arms across his chest and rubbed them fiercely as he trotted over. Kai stayed behind to help Ink to his feet.

The human crouched just in front of the plinth and inspected the glass. It was very odd in color, as it had an iridescent theme of rainbow colors in certain lights, similar to a bubble. The glass was thick, at least by a solid foot as the smallest piece alone was bigger than Kyungsoo’s fist.

“Well who the fuck could have done this?” Kyungsoo threw the glass piece down and stood back up.

But as he turned to see how Ink and Kai were doing, a black shadow suddenly appeared out of nowhere over the tops of their heads. There, the dark and menacing Allve ship had appeared in all its glory.

“Run!” Ink shouted at the top of his lungs as he pulled out his gun and tried shooting at the ship.

Kai wasted not a moment and sprinted for Kyungsoo like no tomorrow, but even his remarkably fast legs could not make it in time. A mass of black shot down from the ship and caused an earth shattering vibration to shake the platform in which they stood. Both Kyungsoo and Kai flew backwards, tumbling further and further apart from each other. As the main tower point in the city, it possessed a large diameter— so much that it could fit an American football field comfortably. The mass of black that had struck the platform managed to take up at last a third of its size.

While it took Kyungsoo a solid minute to stand back up after thrashing around on the ground, Kai was already sprinting his way to Ink and mashing the buttons on his calus. But before he could grab hold of Ink and teleport to Kyungsoo to leave right after, a massive force of push had thrusted him from side of the building. It was an invisible force, one Kyungsoo nor Ink could see, though Ink felt the heaviness of it and the sickening amount of hate that followed. Kai’s body had slammed into the ground of The City, the force that pushed him still had a tight grip on him—leaving the damage to be less severe. A fall from that high up would kill a human barely half way down from the change in air pressure. An Allve would be nothing but smithereens once in contact with the ground. Point being, the fall should have killed Kai, but was allowed to live anyways.

Kyungsoo couldn’t see the part where Kai lived, nor did he know how far from the ground they actually were. So, in that moment, everything felt utterly pointless to the human. It was like someone snapped their fingers and anything and everything that could possibly go wrong had done so. There was no motivation to move, to get up and run away like the constant yelling Ink shouted at him over the firing of his gun was telling him too. Not even when the mound of black, slithering, tentacle-like substance presented itself in front of Kyungsoo’s very pale being.

It oozed in black, the constituent dripping from every portion of its body and disappearing into nothingness. Eyes were stark white, endless with no pupil to define them and radiated as if it had been the only source of light in such a black abyss. It was vile and terrifying with how it loomed over Kyungsoo.

“ _Threkar a rath men ‘olan._ ” Such slithering words dripped from its mouth before wrapping a dark tentacle around Kyungsoo’s waist and lifting him high in the air to meet its face. It was a spell, to cast him into a sleep like death unless woken by her and her alone. Kyungsoo fell unconscious in the hands of Aleyth within seconds.

֍  ҉  ֎

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNy2G3iEuuo&index=9&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) - prisoners

Kyungsoo woke with an ache straining on his stomach and legs. He felt heavy, like an overbearing bout of pressure had been weighing his head down. Lethargy ran rampant through his lungs and could hardly take in any air—it was suffocating, and he hated it.

“Hello?” His hoarse voice called out in the dark room, not even a shred of light had peaked out.

“Kyungsoo..” The voice was small and across the way, this made Kyungsoo jump to his feet despite the pain and run to Kai’s side.

“Kai?! Is that you?! Where are you?” He asked in a panic, it really was hard to see.

“Here…” His voice was even smaller, but closer now, just off to the side and Kyungsoo quickly kneeled.

“How are you?” Had been the only words he could think of, though he really wanted to lift him and hold him in his arms.

“Not too good..” His voice was grumbly as if just waking up, but Kai almost next to never had a fault in his voice in the morning.

“Do you hurt anywhere?”

“Everywhere.”

Kyungsoo nearly whimpered and reached out his hand to place on the male’s head. His guess in the dark was quite accurate as he gingerly let his finger tips graze the alien’s nose before placing his palm on his forehead and stroking his hair back.

“Are you alright?” Kai asked.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Kyungsoo answered with a soft voice, stroking the elf’s hair out of his face. He could feel how hot his body was, warmer than usual and a layer of sweat that perforated. “Are you healing yourself?”

“Slowly..”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Just.. Just stay here.” He raised a hand and grabbed onto Kyungsoo’s. “For as long as you can, stay by my side.”

“Okay…”

No one knew how long they had been there for, time was not a concept in the dark room. It could have been five minutes or five hours. Either way, Kyungsoo had shifted from his spot and eventually laid beside the elf, nestled closely with their hands still interlocked.

“I’m sorry.” Kai’s voice spoke out in a rasp finally.

“For what?”

“Everything.”

“This _again_ , I’m tired of hearing that, just shut up—”

“No, you shut up.” Kai said curtly. This took Kyungsoo aback and immediately made him shut his mouth and blush. Kai was never really one to be so abrasive with language towards him, it was a little embarrassing to feel like he was speaking just a little too much.

“It’s over now, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it had to be you that I dragged on this journey. I’m sorry that I put you in danger countless of times. I’m sorry that I wasn’t strong enough to keep you safe. I’m sorry that you have gone through all this for nothing… If I had the power to rewind time, I would alter it so that I never met you. That I never ended up on Earth.”

“That’s… I can’t even let that hurt my feelings, because I get it. Our lives would be a lot different if we never met…” Kyungsoo’s voice was solemn. “But stop treating this as if this is the end for us. You have no proof that this is the end. I bet if I just pushed some buttons on your calus we’ll be fine.”

“But we don’t have the taurns. How can we move on without them?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “We leave without them.. We just… Run away to the end of the universe and live out from there.”

“There _is_ no going on from here Kyungsoo. We’re done. Aleyth found me. She found us. There’s nothing we can do anymore.” Kai turned his head away, Kyungsoo could hear his shifting and the slight distance that was caused by his voice. “She’s going to kill us. And there’s nothing I can do.”

Kyungsoo did not know what to say just yet, for his mind raced on with all the possibilities to success. Though, they were far and few; surely there was a way out? There was always a way out.

Their intertwined hands broke away and Kyungsoo began fiddling with Kai’s arm, looking for the device he possessed.

 “…She took my calus.” Kai added. This did not draw a positive response from Kyungsoo as he pulled away and sat up..

“W-Well! Y-You can’t just…” He sighed and beckoned with his body, he was having a hard time trying to come up with a good enough excuse. “You can’t just give up now! Isn’t there some sort of idiom in your language that you use to never give up, to stop saying sorry?! Make our cultural differences apparent here! You can’t be the one to so readily give up.” Kyungsoo ran his hands through his hair in frustration.  “No! We came way too fucking far for it to just all end! Absolutely not.” He stood to his feet and began to take parameter of the room.

He kicked at the metal walls and banged his fists until they were raw. He screamed for someone to let him out, to talk to him. Maybe he could reason with her, maybe he could sneak out and get Kai’s calus? There was no way he could give up just yet, he was not about to let their time spent gathering the taurns go to waste.

“Kyungsoo, stop. There’s no use. These cells are made to be impenetrable, you’ll never get out.” Kyungsoo ignored the elf and banged harder. “Kyungsoo! Stop.” He raised his voice as the human kept ignoring him. “Kyungsoo!” Kai yelled relentlessly loud, this time sitting up to the best of his ability. The human finally stopped banging. “There’s no more use. It’s done. We’re done.”

Kyungsoo paused and stared into the darkness, over his deep breaths he could hear the defeat ooze from the alien’s voice. His cheeks were rosy with strain and brows knit with apprehension. “You… You can’t give up now.” He said very much out of breath and almost as defeated as Kai.

“We’re going to die. There is no point in continuing. We failed… I failed.” He slid his rear until he was up against the wall and let his messy white locks stream over his face, he was thankful for the darkness and inability to see Kyungsoo. How shameful he felt.

Kyungsoo shook his head slowly. “What’s wrong with you?” He waited for a response. “What happened to the heartless savage that slit my throat when we first met? What happened to the intelligent being that got us to and from danger without a second's thought…? The passionate alien who swears to protect me no matter what? The Kai who leaps into danger without batting an eye? Where is he? …The only reason why I stayed was because of you. I thought I could follow you all the way out here because of how you were. You gave me courage to keep moving forward! Me!! The _poor, frail, human_ from a lesser planet. A nobody. Now it just turns out I came all the way here for nothing.” Kyungsoo stepped back and let his back hit the cold wall of the room. He slid down with teeth gritted and a most heavy heart. “What will it take? Is this the part where I sacrifice myself, so you can keep going on? Because I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you back on your feet.” He spoke with a sarcastic gusto, though it was clear as day that he really would throw his life away just for this alien. “Do you remember the day we accidentally transported to Amy’s villa?” His voice was now soft, reminiscent of the past memory. “Do you remember when you got down on one knee and said, ‘ _Please. Help me, until you physically and mentally can no longer_ ’? Because I do. I think about that day a lot. I was so embarrassed when you did that, but now, it doesn’t seem so crazy. I’ll do it.. I really will do anything if it gets you out of here.” His voice strained, all the tension of wanting to break down and cry building up in his throat.

“You know…” Kyungsoo started again. He was distant, a sadistic smile upon his features as he tried to recall something lost, yet not forgotten. “I always had this thought that I’d finish up my masters degree, go for my doctors, get some job that specializes in beetles… I’d be happy mostly, then get a wife, have kids, get a house, finally have a decent source of income. Watch my kids grow up, fight with them, love them, watch one die, and eventually die myself… Just like everyone else. But then, I met you. By some untimely event, I _had_ to meet you. And fall so hard for you.” A tear fell from his swelling eyes, finally. “For a jerk who saved my life so many times and showed me things no human could ever dream of.” He wiped the tear from his cheek furiously. “And now, I have to die… Ugh, I can’t believe it took me death to tell you how I feel.” Kyungsoo laughed rather ironically through the few straw tears that were now falling uncontrollably.

“What do you mean—”

“You know, I wanted to do so many things with you? I wanted to hold your hand and gaze at the stars while you told me all about your home and all the other worlds out there… I wanted to see your home, go to all your beaches and meet your family.. I wanted to take you to my hometown and introduce you to my mom and show you off “mom, look, I have an alien friend.” I wanted to go on hikes or spontaneous walks at midnight and show you all the different bugs, animals and plants and then compare them to the things on your planet… Hell, we probably could have traveled the world for free with your wrist thing… Somewhere along the way I had this fleeting fantastical thought that I’d be this pioneer for Earth, writing books and connecting our world with other alien worlds. Conducting research experiments on different planets..” He laughed, it was a rough sound with the way his throat felt closed off from crying. “But mostly, and more realistically.. I just wanted to skip work and stay home with you.. Amy.. Raj… And just hang out and doing nothing… I wanted to stay up until three in the morning eating Smart Food and ice cream while watching Lord of the Rings…” Kyungsoo stared off and gave up on wiping his tears away. “I wanted to cry with you, the moment Frodo had to leave Sam…” His eyes snapped to Kai’s direction. He shrugged his shoulders and slowly shook his head. “I probably love you to be honest... I don’t know when it happened but I don’t like the idea of leaving you right now.” He allowed himself to just let it all go.

Kyungsoo wondered when he was going to finally cry. Kai had already done his crying, now it was his turn. A _lot_ had happened in the time span that he and Kai spent together, so much that a sane person would have given up a long time ago. But there was always that strain of “what if”s” floating by his head. Had he left Kai any sooner, he knew he’d regret every second of it. Kyungsoo wanted his tears to stop, he really did, but they were excessive and streamed down his face. It felt like he would turn into a blubbering mess at any moment.

“When you give up, it makes me want to give up. Then I _really_ have no hope. I’m not nearly as strong or as intelligent as you are. But I just…”

Without notice, a body sat next to Kyungsoo and drew him in close. An arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other held his head against a warm and half bare chest. Kyungsoo turned his head into the fabric and cried harder there, holding onto Kai for dear life and sobbing. Kai cupped Kyungsoo’s legs and hooked them over his lap, swiftly bringing the smaller human between his legs and holding him so tenderly. At some point Kai placed his chin on top of Kyungsoo’s head and let a few silent tears slip from his own eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Kai had finally broken the silence.

Kyungsoo did not respond and kept on his crying.

“I’m sorry, Kyungsoo.” He had rested his lips against the top of the human’s head.

Kyungsoo took a moment before the realization of what just happened had hit. “You just kissed my head.”

“I know humans like this kind of affection. Even if I do not.” His voice was soft and much less raspy. “Human contact is important to those who are sad, I can aid that feeling like a human can though.”

Kyungsoo chuckled in response. “Not everyone likes to be held or hugged when they’re sad. Some prefer to be alone.”

Kai took a moment before responding, “Then do you prefer that…?”

“No, this is okay.” Kyungsoo pulled at Kai’s top and nestled further into his neck. “Also, next time, don’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable. ‘Cause then I’ll be uncomfortable. Just do what you would normally do with someone from your home planet.”

“We tend to just place a hand on each other’s shoulder as comfort. It is inadequate to human standards.. I also.. Have been growing accustomed to the human condition of ‘skin-ship’. It does not bother me.”

“Ah but lips touching lips is still gross, then?”

“All lips are gross.” Kyungsoo could hear the smile spread on the elf’s cheeks.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kiss you again. I feel bad enough about the first.” Kyungsoo wiped his eyes and sniffled, his heart already felt so much lighter than before.

“...Kyungsoo?”

“Yes?” His voice was barely audible.

“I want you to know, that I miss the days I spent with you, Raj and Amy. I miss waking up and trying all the different foods you would prepare. I miss when you would educate me or sit me down and keep my mind occupied with puzzles while you worked. I miss watching you sit at the kitchen table, the glow of the over light and your laptop illuminating your head and face. I miss that calm period, when it felt like there was little wrong and I wasn’t alone… I would like to go back to that time with you again.”

Kyungsoo simply stared at what he figured was Kai’s face in the pitch darkness. “...Oh me too.” He let out breathlessly before going in and hugging Kai again. He mumbled quietly to himself. “Gah, why do you make me feel like this, I hate you so much.”

“But you said you loved me just a moment ago.”

“Don’t think too much about it.”

Kyungsoo chuckled to himself, Kai seemed just as confused as he was before. But as they sat in the darkness of each other’s arms, heavy noises of banging metal had sounded around them. Kyungsoo could feel every muscle in Kai’s body contract with tension and his arms wrap further around him, like he was trying to hide Kyungsoo closer to him. He could feel the anxious and angry breath that rose in the alien’s chest and exhaled loudly on his head. All Kyungsoo could do was shut his eyes, curl further into the inviting chest and wait for the noises to stop.

A door shot open from the other side of the cell, letting in a steady stream of dull light. However, no one entered, and no one stood outside the door. Instead, a ray of black shot into the room and engulfed the two into total darkness. Immediately, they were separated and could not tell what was happening. Their bodies jostled around unpleasantly in their cocoons of black and felt as if they were drowning, suffocating and struggling endlessly to find the surface.

Soon, and quite suddenly, they were released from the darkness and had been seated on the ground. Kai was tied to a metal column, bindings covering his body—while Kyungsoo had been tied by his hands and sat across the room. When the darkness was lifted from their sight, they immediately gasped for air and searched frantically for the other. Kyungsoo’s heart plummeted when he met Kai’s appearance. The alien was covered in bruises, gashes here and there on his face and chest, blood staining his white outfit. A bruise on his left cheek caused his eye to swell and Kyungsoo just could not believe that he sat next to him and touched him freely without taking his physical state into consideration. He had never seen Kai so tattered, let alone he had never seen anyone get a single hit on him.

A massive groan of metal and clanking machines tore their gazes from one another and made them take in their surroundings. What they saw was a ship’s bridge and the main board down below. A window had been before him, giant and clear and showcasing a breath-taking view of a pale planet. But despite the brightness of the planet, it contrasted heavily with the interior of the ship. Black had oozed from every corner, literally, piles of a thick substance had covered the floor and dripped from the sides of stations and panels. Everything was covered in a layer of a filthy black-like substance. But what was most unnerving to Kyungsoo was the lack of presence, not a single person sat to man the motherboard at the front of the ship. No personnel walked along the bridge to supervise, there was not a soul in sight, yet lights twinkled and other items showed holograms of the ships interior parts—everything was working and functioning just fine.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPGyDCQDZeY&index=13&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) - confronting Aleyth

Suddenly, an overbearingly uncomfortable sensation began to fill Kyungsoo’s body. His stomach churned with anxiety and his breath eradicated. A dark presence loomed in the space, coming in as a whole unit and to the center of the bridge, just where Kyungsoo sat. It was significantly smaller than the shape on top of the building in The City, but it was enough to make him crawl backwards in fear. It was still black and dripping in a substance that seemed similar to smoke yet too thick to actually be it. Its eyes were still white, and Kyungsoo could tell this was the same creature from before, just smaller and more humanoid in shape.

Kyungsoo found this to be his chance and yelled, “Leave us alone!” As soon as the figure was fully developed. It simply looked down at Kyungsoo.

“ _Hela ke’aith_.” _I will take your tongue._

“Helad al aye, ke’an o’eython.” _Take a hair from his head and I will end your existence._ Kai snapped back at Aleyth.

A sickening chuckle left the creature’s mouth. Kyungsoo simply looked back and forth between the two, not knowing what was happening.

Suddenly a mass of black raced for Kyungsoo and wrapped itself tight around his throat. Kyungsoo cried out with gasps and gurgles as it lifted him from the ground.

“Al cha’dad!” _Release him!_ Kai screamed at the top of his lungs.

“ _Takuri se’lath al ana meya._ ” _Watch as the light leaves his eyes_ , she responded.

Kai fought and fought against his restraints, knowing that any second she would snap Kyungsoo’s frail neck in half. He screamed and yelled at the top of his lungs, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears as she brought Kyungsoo closer to her face. Her mouth open and filled with dozens of sharp, black teeth that he could see now that they were close.

“ _Tell father, hello_.” The nasty vile voice of Aleyth seemed to come out without so much as moving her mouth. It was terrifying.

“...love..” Kyungsoo managed somehow despite the pressure secured on his larynx. “...love..” He repeated through his struggled gurgles. “He… loved..” He tried out again, but the pressure was still too strong.

Instead of releasing pressure to listen, she slammed Kyungsoo’s body into the ground. It was not a nice feeling on Kyungsoo’s end, especially after the fact he was sure he was just given a concussion. A splitting headache spread along his head and his shoulders tensed with a ripping pain and an immediate need to throw up over took him. The rest of his body just kind of ricocheted and had no feeling after everything else.

She paused for a moment once she was satisfied with Kyungsoo’s reaction, releasing her grip and watching as he barely gathered himself. His face was red with the intake of air, eyes bloodshot as he coughed away the disorientation, oh how his neck hurt. As he coughed though, he did his best to not throw up, but it was a daunting task.

Kyungsoo turned on his side, his head still touching the ground as he gripped at his throbbing neck. It was difficult to maneuver his body when his hands were still tied.

Kai’s watched in horror, his heart ramming against his chest. His words were of no use now but he felt so uselessly angry watching someone he held so dear be thrown around like nothing. He was so afraid of what Aleyth would do, what she _could_ do at any moment.

As Kyungsoo gathered his wits, he pressed his upper body up with great struggle. “He.. loved you.” He finally managed, wiping the tears and mucus that trickled down his face.

Aleyth was silent and _very_ observant.

“I know what he did to you.” He coughed, still looking down and trying to feel his neck properly. “That’s something that is absolutely unforgivable. You have every right to be angry, to want to kill him. Hell, I probably would have done it a long time ago.. But why haven’t you already?”

“ _Suffer._ _Takuri’k al’elan threka mil’udur_ _._ ” _To watch his love die in pain._

“...She wants me to suffer, by watching the life of something I love, die.” Kai let out after a moment, he seemed distraught by the words.

“But you were the one he loved.” Kyungsoo finally turned his gaze to Aleyth, the black around the humanoid figure danced like smoke, it eyes overbearingly watchful. “If you wanted him to suffer so bad then why didn’t you do something else? I’ve seen what you can do, and just felt what you can do. You can mend my body like clay. Breaking Kai would be like snapping a twig.”

_“Ke’ruthri, al’ma’rio. Imlé, havé’al thet eriach. Ke’helad.” He was lucky to escape from me. Now he has something important. And I will take it._

“She said that it was luck that kept me safe. But now that I have you, she would want to see me suffer at your death.” Kai’s words were laced in regret, both anguish and sadness building up as he spoke.

“Then kill me.” Kyungsoo sat up straight finally and stared her down, his eyes severe. “I’m sure he loves me enough.”

Aleyth complied and wrapped her dark appendages around Kyungsoo’s entire body once more, suspending him back in the air in a tight position. It made him wince with pain.

Suddenly, a white orb had been presented to him; Aleyth had been the one to steal the taurn from The City.

“How did you.. We need that!” Kyungsoo yelled and a smirk widened against her diabolical face.

Instead, the white orb was engulfed in black and had been crushed into several little pieces. It was like tapping a small, delicate, glass figurine and watching it fall to the ground and crash into little shards. To destroy one of the most powerful sources of energy in the universe was not something one should take lightly.

“No…” Kyungsoo snapped up at her, “Do you even know what’s going on?! Do you realize what we’re trying to do? Without that orb, the universe will perish! Everything will die, you’ll die!”

“ _I born to die._ ” Her inhuman voice responded, something unsettling spoke to Kyungsoo that Aleyth was not the one talking.

“I get that, I understand that you have survived an inordinate amount of time. But that _must_ mean something. Kai told me you’ve exceeded the normal living period of someone in your situation. Why is that? There’s got to be a reason.” He struggled as the appendages tightened on his chest, pinching and crushing him slowly. “And it must mean something that Kai hasn’t died yet. Maybe you weren’t supposed to kill him just yet, not until the universe has been saved from Carn.”

Aleyth snickered. “ _Death become all. Sinner and righteous._ ”

“Okay _maybe_. But I’ve been finding out that things don’t just happen to happen. There’s a reason why they happen. Yeah, there’s some godly figure named Fate in the ether or whatever, but I know damn well I was never supposed to be here. I was never supposed to end up in your clutches, but for some reason, here I am. I should be home, safe and ignorant to everything going on out here. You should have killed Kai already. But here _you_ are and _he_ still lives.. Just ask yourself, why is that? Is it because of you, or is there something playing a bigger part in all of this? You keep hesitating for a reason, and that’s because you don’t have the guts to actually kill him—” Aleyth tightened her grip and Kyungsoo gasped out, it was painful. Then her appendages swirled up his body, creating this uncomfortable menacing feeling in him as they did so. They entered his mouth and ears, the ones in his mouth exited through his nose and caused a stream of blood to drip down his face. Kyungsoo was so shocked by the pain and foreign feeling that all he could do was allow it to happen. He stayed there, clawing at the appendages with bound hands to stop the suffocation.

“Aleyth!” Kai called out. “Mo’onen!” _I’m sorry._

This quickly caused her to remove her tentacle like arms from Kyungsoo’s orifices. He went limp in her grip, trying to breath and allow his vision to focus from the fuzzy black vertigo he was just experiencing.

“Mo’onen elanin.” _I am sorry a thousand times._ Kai bowed his head. “Mo’on ke ahanon, al’chadad asen. Al telas.” _My forgiveness could never be asked of you, but you must let him go. He is innocent._

“ _Al elan’ona_.” _You love him._

“Ahré.” _I do._

“ _Tal’ah se’lat. Ela thach, ke’thach o’yethon vehn et._ ” _You both should die. Break my heart and I will break your body and soul._

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Kyungsoo managed with a strained voice as Aleyth let him drop to the ground. His arms shook with fatigue as he pushed himself back up, the blood dripping from his nose made his dizziness no better. “But please! Just at least let Kai finish, let him do what he has to do. I’ll stay with you, just please…” His arms gave out and he fell to the ground, chin hitting first and causing him to bite his tongue, it was painfully numbing. “Please let him go.”

“Al nogun. Al cha’dad akarth. Ahré’el.” _Don’t listen to him. Let him go and let him finish. He can do it._

“I know he’s telling you to let me go, but I can’t do shit on my own. It has to be him.” He wriggled his arms to the front and wiped his mouth and tried pushing himself back up.

“Manun.” _He’s lying._

“I know his face enough to know that is desperation. Ignore him just—”

“Al cha’dad!” _Let him go!_

“—let him go.”

“Do you love him?” Aleyth finally asked, her vile and altered voice still heavy in an accent.

Kyungsoo nodded as he sat up fully. “I do. I am completely and utterly in love with him.”

Silence had impregnated the room, just the white noise of the bay filled their ears.

Maybe something in Aleyth was still human, not all of her was completely taken over because she stalled longer than usual. Maybe the humanity that Allve possessed so similarly to humans of Earth was what kept her alive in the darkness of the Allve magic. Maybe it was why she could never kill Kai, or Kyungsoo for that matter. But as she gently removed the restraints on Kyungsoo’s hand, the dark mass of her body dissipated and revealed a woman dressed in an elegant black outfit. It was revealing like Kai’s, more form fitting and long like a tunic, but beautifully embroidered. Her hair was thick and long and wavy as it trailed her body. Two strands of hair at her forehead were pinned back, braids fell just in front of her long-pointed ears and everything else was loose and flowing. Her irises were black with flecks of gold still shimmering in them. Her skin was kissed a shade of light chocolate and graying with the Hekai’s influence. Black marks in the shape of lightning strikes littered around her face and snuck under her clothes. Her lips were full and dark, even the light blue tattoos that once sported her cheeks were dark in color. Her eyelashes were long and black, her makeup dark and smoked as it faded on the rest of her face. Everything at least looked like makeup, but it was simply the magic of the Hekai flowing about her features. Kyungsoo knew she was the same Aleyth from Kai’s memories, but now she looked like a completely different person.

A gasp emitted from his lips at her appearance and how hauntingly beautiful she was.

Her eyes flickered down to the broken orb, then back to Kyungsoo. Her face was stoic, much like Kai’s used to be—but a deep-rooted sadness ghosted her every feature, it pained Kyungsoo to look at her for too long.

“I am Hekai. But I remember love.” Her voice was less altered now, soft even. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, loud enough to fill the whole room. “I remember love of Kai. Love of Rotai. Love of father.” She let the air out and looked back at the two. “But I remember pain. Pain of death. Pain of father, Rotai...Kai. I remember everything. I will not forget.” She focused her eyes on Kyungsoo, “But sometime… Love stronger than pain.” Aleyth turned her gaze to Kai. _“_ Ke a’elano. _” I loved you._

“Eruch ke a’elano.” _But not the way I loved you._

“Hela terur’lat orth’ttepo?” _Was it not enough for you to not kill my father?_

“…Terur’gun. Mo’elanin ke morkhe. Helad ke’aye por telith, he’kai agurth.” _…It should not have mattered. What I did was unfathomably wrong. I have no excuse except for my stupidity to be so blinded by hatred and anger._

Aleyth and Kai did not break their eye contact, a sorrow filling the space between them that Kyungsoo would never understand. He furrowed his brows at the language, forever wondering what they were talking about. But not a second later did Aleyth turn around and disappear in a cloud of black. She reappeared below the bridge and stood in front of the large windows as her black appendages furiously moved behind her on the main boards.

“Creatonotos gangis…” Kyungsoo muttered as he watched Aleyth from the main bridge. There, she looked both terrifying and stunning with the darkness around her. It was a moth he remembered learning about in school, one with special appendages and a rather disturbing shape to the normal human eye. Kyungsoo remembered how enamored he was with the insect all that time ago, just the same way Aleyth made him feel; both uncomfortable yet intrigued.

“Kyungsoo,” Kai called out to him from across the bridge.

Kyungsoo snapped his gaze back to Kai and quickly (albeit clumsily) ran over to him and held his face in his hands. They spoke quietly and quickly to one another

“Are you okay?!” Kyungsoo asked. “You look terrible.”

“I am fine, how are you? Your nose is still bleeding.”

“Don’t worry about it, its fine.” Kyungsoo took a deep breath through his nostrils, letting out an accidental cough after the blood mixed in his lungs.

Kai gave a light grimace at the human and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Alright, how do I get you out from that?” Kyungsoo looked all around the restraints and column but found no advantage point to unwrap him “How does this even work—”

A black appendage shot out of nowhere and pinned Kyungsoo down, both to the ground and the column Kai was attached to. The ship was then thrusted into a hyperspace mode, bright lights of stars all melding into one as they jumped on to the next destination.

֍  ҉  ֎

Kyungsoo was nearly sure that he was dead once Aleyth removed her grip from him. He felt light and airy, literally, light as a feather and airy like swiss cheese slices. He was positive that if he put his hands on his stomach, he would poke right through the navel into nothing. And of course, when he finally had the chance to look down he saw there was exactly nothing there, just his pelvis and legs. The human jolted backwards in fright and let out a small yelp, but once his eyes blinked and readjusted, everything was normal.

“What the…” He questioned rather furiously.

“Displacement is normal, it is like my calus but on a much larger scale.” Kai informed as Kyungsoo felt around to make sure everything was accounted for, which thankfully, it was.

Kyungsoo eventually rose to his feet, still under the airy spell and having a difficult time keeping his wits about him. But as he stood tall, he was able to get a look out the glass window of the deck. There, he saw the image of another planet, this one more blue with oceans and yellowed from a sulfuric haze that grazed the atmosphere. They were far from the planet, much further than the proximity of Rak from what he remembered. But even further than the planet, there was something sinister brewing. Clouds of black with purple lightning rose high into the vacuous space of the stars. For miles it went in each direction, creating a wall of its emptiness.

Just staring at the very nature of the substance made Kyungsoo break out in a cold sweat and swallow hard.

“Is that..”

“That is Carn.” Jongin said as he approached Kyungsoo—Aleyth having removed his restraints, although kept his hands bound in cuffs.

Kyungsoo shrank back into himself, an overwhelming sensation of dread surging about his veins. “But it’s right there. It’s literally just about to knock on our door. How fast is it moving, how long do we have? What planet is this—”

“Krakatos.” Aleyth said from behind the two, where she had let Kai go. “This is Krakatos.” She walked forward to meet them but each step faded into the black smoke of her power, almost as if phasing in and out to move at high speeds.

She presented Kai’s removed items once she was in front of them, handing them over to Kyungsoo with ease. As she handed each item over, though, every motion was a little bit different than the last and covered in more smoke. The calus, his pouch of taurns, and weapons all returned with Aleyth’s body consumed entirely in the black smoke.

“Leave, quickly. Before I change my mind.”

“But the taurn you broke..” Kyungsoo said.

“It is in the bag. The shards may be enough to help.”

Kyungsoo looked down at the bag in his hands, he was skeptical but as long as he had it, he figured he should try. “Alright.” He moved with ease and dared not question why Kai wasn’t removed of his cuffs as he wrapped the calus on the toned arm. He held onto the sack, but placed the knives where he remembered each went.

Kai and Kyungsoo spoke lowly to one another, Kai guiding him through the buttons on his calus. Aleyth watched them as the darkness of Hekai began to overcome her figure, her human-like body disappearing into the dark shapes of the slithering evil. Kyungsoo looked up in horror as this happened, for something else was happening as she embodied the Hekai once more. He could hear her voice ring in his head, she spoke no verbal words, but only he could hear her.

A black liquid began to drip from Kyungsoo’s ears and a few stray tears. The feeling of something inside his head did not feel right. Was that what it was like to have something evil in your head? To stand frozen in fear as a heavy weight sat on your head? It was difficult to explain, in fact, there _was_ no true way to explain it.

When her words faded and the presence was lifted from his mind, he shook his head and quickly pressed the main button of the calus. The room flashed with light and for one last time, they disappeared into a cloud of white luminescent smoke.

֍  ҉  ֎

The air was cool, a light humidity playing around them. Both males had transported to the elevator that they first discovered so long ago, and one by one the blue lights illuminated the spacious room.

“Is this the right level?” Kyungsoo asked in a rush, he was afraid the spider-rat mutants would come out again.

“No, this is the first level. We must go down one, the sentinels must have reset the system. Quickly now, to the panel on the left, I will take the right.”

Both hurriedly ran to each panel at the top of the elevator, running up the swirling ramps that led to the bridge overhang.

“I.. Fuck.. What is this..??” He pressed his finger on a few symbols, mashed a fist on another when nothing happened and eventually earned an angry green screen. “I don’t know what to press!” He yelled across the bridge.

“Press the item that looks like a crescent moon!”

Kyungsoo moved the green screen out of the way with the slide of a finger and pressed it, the hologram pulsed.

“Now slide it down!”

He did as was told and another screen appeared.

“On the count of three, we press at the same time! …One, two.. Three!”

Both pressed the button and immediately ran back down the ramps when the room shifted and clanked with thunderous noises. Kyungsoo heaved with each step while the only thing that looked like was working hard was Kai’s luscious flowing locks. Kai quickly pressed the button on the center of the platform and then raised his arms.

“Come,” he beckoned with a motion of his head. Kyungsoo thought nothing of it and stepped closer to the alien. Kai placed his bound hands over Kyungsoo’s head, resting them on the human’s mid back. He pulled him close against his chest and held him securely between his toned arms.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened at the sudden position; when grating metal sounded, the elevator shot down into the earth and he was grateful to be grounded. Kai did not sway with the sudden force, but Kyungsoo’s upper body couldn’t help but wrap his arms back around Kai to hold him in place.

When the machine slowed down and the magnetic-like forced released their feet, they broke away and briskly made their way down the lonely halls of the old planet. Kyungsoo’s small legs strummed hard against the metal floors, listening to the directions that Kai would throw at him.

A group of the sentinels passed them and quickly assessed their bodies with a scan before leading them to the control room. Even as the sentinels joined them as guards, the pale human’s heart raced with an overwhelming panic. Carn was upon them, he had finally seen the massive power that it possessed, the great wall of void that could consume them at any given moment. Kai could feel how nervous Kyungsoo was without the help of his powers he could just see the worry ooze from his very being. He figured no time would ever be the right time to tell Kyungsoo that the time they had was even less. The massive size of Carn was enough to create a gravitational pull of its own, sucking in planets long before it was close enough to be seen from the skies. It was difficult to say how long they had before the planet was pulled into Carn, but it didn’t matter. If the planet stopped rotating on its axis, that alone would be enough to kill them.

Their hearts finally lifted at the sight of a familiar entrance way. Inside was the inner sanctum, the same room they had discovered the location of the taurns and were introduced to the large table in the center of the room. Off to the right of the room was the Master Guard, observing holographic screens diligently.

The sentinels produced a noise that notified the Master Guard and turned all its attention on them.

“You have arrived.” Its mechanical voice sounded and quickly rushed to them. “You have all the—” Its voice made the numerical sounds it naturally produced.

“Yes.” Kyungsoo said much out of breath and knowing that it was talking about the taurns.

“Place them in their respective spots. With haste.” It made a series of numerical robotic noises again, “—is upon this planet; if we cannot defeat it soon, I am afraid there is no hope for us.”

“No pressure.” Kyungsoo mumbled and quickly walked over to the table. “So how do we work this?”

“Place the—” It made the numerical noise. “—into the ports. Strongest starts the middle, following rings descend by power. Weakest on the outer edges.”

“Gottcha.” Kyungsoo nodded and hopped onto the table. Immediately, the hum and glow like before started up. From the new angle he could see the circular pattern in rings and the respective indents that looked made for a taurn to fit in its normal size. He reached into his bag and rummaged for an orb, but as he did so, screams of the rat like creatures bellowed down the hall. Sentinels were quick at work while another worked diligently to remove the cuffs on Kai’s hands—Allve craftsmanship was rather intricate.

“The black one, that is the strongest.” Kai had yelled from where he stood.

Kyungsoo pulled out the black orb and cringed with the very emotion it caused him to feel, or lack there of. This one was definitely the strongest, for it provoked the most potent of feelings. He placed it into the center of the table and watched as the glow and hum intensified. Another significant difference he noticed was the lack of the emptiness that the black taurn. Usually just being in the same vicinity as it was enough to make him feel something, but now, the feeling was completely gone.

“Okay, now which one?” Kyungsoo asked as he pulled each solid taurn out, leaving the shattered pieces of the white one in. Every swelling emotion he felt consumed him as the taurns laid about him. None of them were unfamiliar, in fact, he was sure that even without the taurns he had been feeling most of them on the journey.

“The green one!” Kai yelled again. Kyungsoo quickly scanned the table before realizing that the taurn was missing. “Here!” Kai tossed Amy’s old necklace gem to Kyungsoo as he ran for the table.

Kyungsoo caught it (just barely) and placed it in the next ring. Kai hopped onto the table with heck of a lot more poise than Kyungsoo could ever manage. Kyungsoo needed an arm on the table to help lift him over, Kai literally just jumped up without touching anything.  

Kai quickly made work of the orbs and began to sort them by power; he could feel and see their energy much stronger than Kyungsoo could. It would have been ideal if the Master Guard could tell them how the machine worked, rather than vaguely give them an instruction and leave to ward off the spider rat creatures.

But they made do with what they could. The light blue came next, yellow then purple, red and then dark blue. And with each taurn placed in an indent, their overwhelming emotions dissipated. However, as Kyungsoo placed more taurns into the indents there was no further change to the table. No light grew brighter, no hum became louder, there was no noticeable change.

It took nearly half an hour for them to figure out the order of orbs. Even as their time waned, they still had no idea if what they created was near correct. Kyungsoo screamed and almost ripped his hair out when he became fed up with the situation. Nothing they did worked, nothing changed.

He hopped off the table and stubbornly gave it a swift kick before slumping back against the side of it. Kai stayed diligent at work on top of the table, using his puzzle piecing skills to create something. He was determined to figure out the lexicon.

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, sat in his spot and thought of what they could do. He raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, his tension was pooling quite high there. But just as he raised his hand it had hit something jutting out from the side of the table. It protruded out like a scoop, like the way a small toy machine’s does, the ones if you feed it a coin, they release a plastic ball with an item.

An absent-minded thought went through his head and made his body move on instinct. Kyungsoo had suddenly remembered the crushed crystal that still sat at the bottom of the bag. He got to his feet and ran for the bag, reaching in and grabbing the shards with his bare fingers. It was not a smart idea as his fingers were pricked and bleed from the scratches. These were not just any ordinary cuts though, grabbing as carefully as he did would not cut anyone on any broken item. Not even glass. But these tore through his skin like butter, leaving an awful and heavy pain on his fingers and palm. He pushed through the pain, though, and ran back to dump the small particles of the gem.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72KbtAK4z0k&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym&index=10) - the end is nigh

Suddenly, the table grew even brighter. The hum was so loud it began to vibrate the very air around them, he could feel its power growing. Kai watched as a thin beam of light started at the center taurn and followed the circle rings down to where Kyungsoo was standing. Kyungsoo watched as the light streamed onto the floor and followed it way towards the wall. As it trailed its stream, it broke off into several other paths in various angled directions. Each of those paths eventually kept breaking off until they quickly engulfed the room and spread further throughout the facility—unseen to their eyes. On the ceiling a light began to generate, strong and nearly blinding the more they looked at it. What they could not see was how much further in the earth the thin stream of light went. Vast halls of immense size practically consumed the entirety of the inner most layers of the planet. Elevators that ran deeper and deeper, halls that opened to massive chambers of metal towers—blocks that rose high and gave the illusion of several cities sitting in the depths of an abandoned planet. Each column was crucial, for they lit up and began to move, coming to life as the energy of the eight taurns fueled them.

In the most basic of terms, the taurns were a battery. Charging an old object and filling it with enough power to send out a blast both large enough, and long enough, to remove anything from existence.

This was the purpose of Krakatos. A synthetic planet created by an ancient alien race to save the universe from disappearing.

Kyungsoo and Kai waited for something more to happen as they could not see the machines that churned and warmed themselves up. All they experienced was shaking walls, and pieces of debris falling from the ceiling. The rodent creatures outside howled and scurried far from the room, the sentinels chasing them every step of the way.

The Master Guard raced its robotic shape into the room and to the males. “Exit. Immediately. Weapon is not stable—” Just as the robotic voice filled the earthquake sounds of the room, a large metal debris fell from the ceiling and crushed it. Kai had moved quick enough to pull Kyungsoo back, but just barely (he was still too weak to move like proper).

“What’s happening?!” Kyungsoo yelled as he held onto Kai. They watched most anxiously as the room fell apart.

“This structure is too old, its collapsing with the power of the taurns! We must escape!”

“Then take us out of here!” Kyungsoo nearly screamed.

“Kyungsoo, I can’t.” Kai’s voice turned grave. “We don’t have the taurn anymore.”

Kyungsoo felt all life drain from his body. The anxious pit of nerves sitting at the bottom of his stomach plummeted and took everything with it. He slowly turned to the table where debris fell and bounced off a force field that generated itself at some point. The horror that laced his face threw all kinds of discontent within Kai.

The tremors in the sanctum intensified, making them tighten their grips on one another. The light at the top of the room grew brighter and brighter and increased in size. Another bright light began to emit from the hallway, this one bluer than the white in the room.

Suddenly, another scrap of metal descended from the ceiling above them. Kyungsoo yelled for Kai to move as he saw the piece first. Kai jerked them both back and ran for cover. Just underneath the hologram screens and maps, where the Master Guard worked, was a small enough space for them to crawl under and hide. They sat on the ground, with Kyungsoo secure in between Kai’s legs.

They remained there, silent and watching as the room became littered in debris, waiting for something more to happen.

So many thoughts raced through Kyungsoo’s head as they sat an waited. It felt like absolute death sitting there, doing _nothing_ but knowing they were going to die some way. He turned in Kai’s lap and locked their eyes together, worry lacing both their features. Kyungsoo had told Kai how he felt about him already, but he just needed to say it again. He just needed Kai to know it one more time.

So he spoke fast, “Thank you for everything. Thank you for the most exciting, influential and important part of my life. I love you.”

Kai’s hands pulled Kyungsoo back into him so that their stomachs touched. “Kyungsoo—”

A loud thunder-like clap engulfed the room, shaking it so violently that the two nearly rattled around like loose change.

 

The gun had fired.

 

The light in the room disappeared.

 

Their time had run out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update to celebrate the kaisoo fanservice yesterday
> 
> next chap is the last
> 
> lots a music in this update, don't feel obligated to listen. they just helped me write and i wanted to share


	14. And we were in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter

֍  ҉  ֎

It was like slow motion as the planet split in half, then into thousands of broken pieces. A bright light exploded at the center of the planet, consuming nearly everything in sight as a steady stream shot out. Angry reds and dark clouds exploded with each piece of planet that combusted.

From nearly all reaches of the universe could the destruction be seen; even if it was just another star in the sky.

The bright light of the explosion lit up night skies like day on planets closer by.

Chan was upon his front porch when the light caught his eye. He stood up, watching it with a terrified gaze. His father, mother and younger brother eventually all joined him, huddling together and watching as the unknown light lit up their night sky.

What they could not see was the beam of light and how it had been directly aimed at Carn.

The dark matter of unending nothing was pierced in its face with the strong stream of light. If it could possess a face, it would have been where the light relentlessly penetrated it. The darkness fought against the light, trying to consume it rather than let _it_ destroy it, not knowing anything else but the act of consumption. The light proved stronger; Carn was pushed back. As the light rammed into it, the beast of Carn dug into itself, slowly disintegrating with each passing second. It was not a quick process, it was long and arduous. One that took close to five Earth years to complete; but at the cost of Krakatos, that crumbled into an explosion of molten nothing.

What had been consumed by Carn did not return; instead, a series of small events combusted like beautiful fireworks. New dimensions began sprouting, the universe stretched its confined limbs and started a new birth. Life of galaxies formed with each passing second, suns and stars alike exploded into great nuclear constructs, masses of debris collided and began cycles of life development all over again. Dark portions of the sky that were vacant of stars began producing new colors and shapes of stars. Of course, none of this happened overnight; millions of light years would only reveal what would become of the newly created parts of their universe. All that mattered was the great price that Krakatos suffered producing such a massive weapon and how it would be recorded in histories.

Earth would never get to know that history. In fact, it wouldn’t be able to see the light for some hundreds of years later. But even then, to those one earth it would only look like a small dot of a new star that went completely missed by astronomers.

 

 

Aleyth’s ship sat stagnant at a safe distance, watching as the world crumbled to nothing but tatters. Her eyes baring down on the light as it bore into Carn. Lone on her ship’s bridge, she watched with a grave air about her.

 

 

Even Xanin himself smirked upon the sight of the desolation. In his halls of great, he watched the fall of Carn.

Though, Carn was not fully destroyed, no, it was weakened. Rendered back to the small entity it was when it was first created. For a time, all would be fine in the universe.

 

And as you read further, you wish to know of the fate of the two protagonists. You would be relieved to know that they were safe and in the country of Alle, upon beds of comfort that seemed to feel like pure clouds.

It was no easy task to get to that point, having scraped by barely with their lives. Yes, they had come neck and neck with death before in this journey, but this was the closest. Any slower to their actions and they would have perished.  

When the light in the sanctum disappeared, both males froze and waited for something else to happen. The violent tremors intensified and there was nothing they could do to ground themselves. Though that meant little as Kai’s quick thinking sprung him from their spot and leapt for the table. He had no idea of what was happening, but it seemed as if the part that the taurns played had been done. He grabbed the smallest taurn, the green, and moved his slim fingers with utter precision.  

Kyungsoo called out in the most terrified of manners for him to return, desperately hoping that nothing would fall and crush him. But as Kai slightly slowed down to insert the green item to his calus, Kyungsoo shot up from their spot and ran for him. He stumbled and nearly found himself out of balance the whole way over. Kai caught the sight of the human and immediately opened his arms for him to enter and secured him there. And as they embraced so fiercely, Kai slammed a hand down on his wrist and the familiar white luminescent electrical field engulfed them until they were gone. Leaving nothing but a cloud of that white luminescent smoke.

Had they waited any longer, they would have felt the wrath of the planet become engulfed in the white heat of the weapon. It would have melted the flesh from their bones faster than any nuclear bomb could hope to do. They were lucky—escaping from such devastating destruction.

 

They landed just outside Chan’s home a top of the hill where the family’s heard of ki were obliviously grazing on grass. Down the way, the family gathered together, watching the night sky light up by something brighter. The jump between worlds proved too much on Kyungsoo’s body and caused him to slip from consciousness. Kai caught him as he slumped, knees buckling and head lulling back. The alien panicked for a short moment thinking that something had gone wrong and the human died. But his fears were quickly allayed when he felt the human’s calming heartbeat pound against his hands.

Something was off with the way Kyungsoo’s body slumped though, like he was deliberately pushing himself away. Kai looked down at Kyungsoo’s hands and saw the cuts glowing with an unnatural bright shine of white. The veins on his hand were bulging and dark with color, leading up his forearm. It was a mystery of how any of that got there, especially when Kyungsoo made no visible notice of being injured.

It was then that Kai remembered seeing Kyungsoo reach into the pouch and grab a handful of the crushed taurn. He remembered watching him wince in pain but brush it off like it was nothing. Kai looked down at Kyungsoo’s lifeless body and furrowed his brows. Kyungsoo was about to become deathly ill with the energy that flowed from the white taurn, energy that will do anything to find a way to spread and eventually kill him. The taurns were essentially prisoners to harness the immeasurable power within. Injecting the power into something else that it not the taurn gem, could cause an overrun of energy. An overrun that will eventually not find what it needs and kill the host.

Kai did next only what he knew best; use his calus and jump over to a new destination. And the only place he could think of to help Kyungsoo, was the country of Alle; his home.

 

The sky was dark and down-pouring in deluge. Through the dark clouds could the light of Krakatos be seen, like a bright moon shining through listless clouds. Where the two appeared was on a balcony of the main castle; the residence of the high king, Kai’s home estate. Guards immediately flooded the area, having the technology to show them that an exile was Hopping onto castle grounds. The guards all wore little clothing and held pikes at the ready. Their pants were white, like Kai’s, though trimmed in in gold. The poles of their weapons were made of gold color and the tips of silver metal. They were beautiful no doubt, but dangerous when used by these professionals.

Each guard looked to one another, confused for a split moment as to why the exiled prince of Eleto had returned. Was there something they missed?

Through the pouring rain the highest ranking yelled out a series of orders that Kai chose to ignore and yelled back for medical help. Kyungsoo still laid out limp in his arms, the bulging veins now reaching his shoulder.

Kai shouted and swore, knowing that he could never get past so many guards in his own current state and an extra body to carry. The guards were all equally baffled at the prince’s utterly atrocious behavior and figured his banishment had turned him for the worse. The captain of the small squadron cried a command to detain the two, the guards complied and closed in with their tipped spears.

The two were separated at once, Kyungsoo was ripped away from him and quickly disappeared through the archways that lead into the castle. Kai watched with every last second as two guards dragged Kyungsoo by the arms, his lower half limp and feet trailing on the ground. He shouted for them to be delicate with the human, not caring as guards pulled his arms back and duly stripped him of his calus and cuffed him.

֍  ҉  ֎

Exile or not, his status as crown prince reigned over his punishment and allowed him to be locked away in his room instead of the holding cells in the farthest corner of the castle. Kai reveled for a moment at the state of his room, exactly the same as he had left it. Clean and particularly tidy, yet not a single speck of dust could be seen on anything. Of course, he expected as much.

His room was quite large, enough to fill a heard of six African elephants comfortably. His bed sat in the center of the room. It was larger than a king and sat low to the ground like a futon, filled with blankets and extravagant pillows from all over the galaxy. A canopy of wooden trees and their scarce branches held silk, opaque netting, all of them draping around like white cascades of fabric. At the furthest end of the room stood a wall of book shelves, all consumed with books and other treasured items from around the galaxies. As the room was rectangular in shape, the longest wall opposite of the main door was consumed with open arch ways. They lead out to another balcony with long white sheets like the canopy fabric on his bed. A light breeze blew into his room and he took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. It was a deeply missed smell on his mind. But he had no time to reminisce and delve in the nostalgia of his home. His ears worked hard to listen through his doors, to hear if the guards outside had anything to say: what hushed words they used, who walked by, who knew of his arrival and most importantly what was happening with Kyungsoo?

A nurse, who was more of an alchemist to earth standards, was next to enter Kai’s dimly lit room. The crystals floating about the ceiling glowing with white light matched the subconscious mood of the alien, dark and anxious. The nurse sat Kai down at the edge of his bed and made quick work of his wounds. Using her own special powers and a few herbal medicines to treat the smaller abrasions. He actually had a fractured jaw and a few cracked ribs that needed more magic. But even as the woman worked on Kai, word was spreading fast around the castle.

His father, who had been fast asleep was woken not long after his arrival. Dressed in night robes and hair highly unsightly for a ruler of a planet, ran from his quarters and down the luxurious golden halls of his palace.

A commotion of voices sounded outside of Kai’s door for a moment, then, his doors sprung open and there appeared his father—disheveled and wearing an expression of disbelief.

Kai shot up from his bedside and the woman quickly faced away from the king. It was custom for servants to face the opposite direction if the king was unadvised.

“Father…” Kai whispered as his eyes fell on the man. He was much taller than he and his face sported a long, white, straight beard. There were minimal wrinkles, just two small crows’ feet at the corners.

“My child…” His father inched further into the room, his eyes still unable to grasp that his son was before him after so many long years.

Kai rose against his better judgment and ran for his father, engulfing him in a strong and brazen hug. “I’ve wanted to see you.” Kai buried his face into the shoulder of his father and nearly cried out on the spot.

His father, completely taken aback by the sudden connection stood uncomfortably, not knowing what to do with his hands.

“I’ve wanted to see you, too. My child..” His father eventually let out after resting a hand on his shoulder. Although the hug was foreign to him, it was not unwelcomed. It reminded him of what it was like to hold his son when he was just a child and it brought a warmth in heart he hadn’t felt in a good long while.

Kai let go and placed a hand on his father shoulder, finally greeting him as he would normally.

“Father, I’m sorry I have returned. I had no choice.” He spoke quickly, albeit wearily as the guards were watching carefully from the doorway now.

“Kai.. My child. I cannot protect you forever here. You may stay as long as my word can let you… But why have you returned? Why have you disobeyed our laws?” He was quite stern in the way he spoke.

“Medicine. My friend is in need of medicine. He is sick with the energy of a taurn. His body is too weak to hold it off for long.”

“Taurn? What business could you have with a taurn?” His father released his grip on his son’s shoulder and stood back. He seemed rather…displeased with the turn of events.

Kai knew the story he would eventually tell would be a long one, so opted for something else. Without speaking a word, he walked out on the balcony of his room and looked up at the sky. The rain had been shielded away by an invisible force of magic, but the clouds above were still visible. Through the thick clouds of rain, there was a bright light still radiating lightyears away. His father followed with ease and looked up once he stood next to his son, noticing how the bright light seemed to light up like the moon would on a foggy night.

“My child—”

“Before I go any further, please promise me the best medical care we can give my friend. I must know that he is safe.”

They were silent for a moment, his father thinking through the situation as clearly as possible. Just the very way his face looked, his father could tell that he was serious.

“Very well.. Have your wounds sealed and a bath ready. I will take care of your friend.”

Without another word his father left in a whirl of his white robes, his yellowing hair long and flowing.

Kai watched as his father exited his room and took in a large breath of air. He wanted to feel relieved, he wanted to feel as if everything would be okay now. But he knew he would never rest unless he knew how Kyungsoo was doing.

Minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days. Four days to be exact. After the first and Kyungsoo’s condition stabilized, Kai had him moved to his room where he could keep watch over him. Not being able to visit would be agony on his end.

It was no problem for the nurse maids and doctors to pay the prince’s room visits; tending to the vegetable like body with cleaning and regular healing. It was no easy task to remove such power from such a weak body, the process had to be done with absolute care and precision. Kai would watch with a worried expression creasing his features as Kyungsoo’s body was surrounded in personnel. He could do nothing for the human and it only made him more dismayed.

In the time that Kyungsoo stay unconscious, Kai had been thrust to a series of trials. The first two the very next day of their arrival and the last on the second day. In each trial he testified for his return, the calling of Xanin and the desolation of Carn. Reports of Krakatos bursting into nothing but a beam of light had reached the planet by the first morning and no one would have ever suspected it to be the cause of their banished prince and a human.

Kai had forgotten how stressful these events were, how scrutinizing the elders of the court were. He had been free of authority for so long that he nearly forgot what it was like to have such responsibility and duty as a prince. His impudence and rudeness when responding to the council earn chuckles from his father (as he found the council insufferable) but it sat unwell with everyone else. With the growing unrest of the people against Kai, word began to question who or what Kyungsoo was and why they should harbor him. Many of their laws were broken by Kai bringing him in without any official documents. Humans were an unidentified race and they were afraid he would bring disease and destruction upon their world. So you could only imagine that there were a few opposing elders in the council over Do Kyungsoo.

By the last trial, it had been decided Kai could stay for an indefinite period of time—meaning he could stay as long as he needed until his friend had recovered. He would be confined to the castle and unallowed contact with the outside world. Any sign of Aleyth in the vicinity of the galaxy and they would exile him and his friend right away. Kai could not argue with the terms if it meant Kyungsoo could stay. So, he spent all his time locked away in his room by Kyungsoo’s side. Meals were brought to him and officials (who were allowed) made frequent visits to keep formalities and ties with crown prince, but most of them really just curious of the human and what it looked like.

Kai’s father would stop by at least once a day, if not twice, and would stay for extended periods of time to talk with his son. Catching up on both of their lives before the king had to return to his duties in the kingdom.

“He’s too pale.” The king muttered as he pressed a thumb to the human’s forehead. On the skin he left circular blue ripples and pulled away as they faded. It was a blessing of magic he gave upon every visit, custom for the sick.

“Father, inappropriate.”

“Me? How dare you, you insolate child.” His father said as a joke, but to any human it would have seemed quite serious. “He is pale and so small. How can you love something… So puny?” The king sat down in one of the chairs beside the bed that Kyungsoo slept. Kai had been seated in a similar one beside him already.

Kai nearly growled, “Can you not love the mice that room the halls? Can you not love our canines or felines because they are smaller than us? What of the friends we have made of other races? Those smaller than his and those small than us?”

“Hold your wailing tongue.” His father snapped. “I merely question why you should choose to love someone so different. As my heir I cannot allow you to love him. Especially if you love him as a pet, because it would seem that way… He is not fit to rule by your side.”

“Father I am banished indefinitely. I will not be returning before the crown can come to me. You are better off finding another heir. Mother, peace to her, has plenty of nephews and nieces who can uphold the royal blood line. And before you go on making another sick joke about how I love him, I would have you know that I would rather bind my soul to his than stay another second here.”

“Bah!” The king waved a dismissive hand and stood to his feet, clad in all his golden robes. “You have the worst luck with love. First Aleyth, now a… _human._ And to think my own son would stay exiled after his father’s death. A shame that is… But you cannot stay exiled forever. You have not been stripped of your title as crown prince and therefore you w _ill_ be king. What customs does he know of our people, anyways? Does he know you will have to take a concubine eventually to bare a child? Does he know that the average life span is past two hundred? Does he know anything of our politics—”

“Father, stop!” Kai interjected with a loud and brazen voice. “This conversation is not to be had right now. The energy in the room is negative and must be positive for his healing process. I will not discuss this further with you here.”

“Insolent child…” The king turned on his toes and made way for the doors in a brisk manner. “You are a fool to fall in love! Think on your actions this night!” His father’s voice bellowed as he exited, and the large doors slammed shut behind him.

Kai sighed heavily into his hands once he was alone. He gazed up at Kyungsoo’s sleeping face when he could no longer keep thinking and prayed desperately for the human to wake up.

֍  ҉  ֎

On the third day in the castle, Kai requested that Kyungsoo be moved to his personal bed. The human had been resting on a makeshift cot; really, it was just a rather extravagant chaise. Kai knew that the human would be ultimately more comfortable in his bed, after all, the materials it was made from had surpassed much of Earth’s linens.

Day and night, he stayed in the room, either seated at the bed side or pacing around anxiously in thought. He read a book here, studied a map there, and spoon fed a mushy gruel substance into Kyungsoo for dinners. It was chock full of nutrients, so he was only allowed a few bites. Everything else was administered through an IV like system connected in his arm.

A few scientists interested in the new species of ‘human’ had dropped by to gather some test specimens at some point in time. They irritated Kai and caused him to shoo them away in a rather unpleasant manner. 

Kai had found himself growing closer to the nursemaids that tended to Kyungsoo, as they were some of only people allowed to visit. It was not custom to dig into another’s private life unless they were family or a close enough friend to be considered family. But when Kyungsoo spoke his mind in nearly every situation and asked questions that Kai would normally ask much further down a growing relationship, of course he adopted the habit himself. So, he often asked questions and got to know more of their lives, which oddly enough, they somehow liked.

On the fourth and final day, Kyungsoo woke sometime during mid-day. The sun shined brightly over the city, causing every bit of gold on every building to shimmer in the spring weather. The water glistened in all its aqua colored glory, shimmers of white reflecting elegantly from the waves. They weren’t quite seagulls, but the bird-like fauna cooed in the breeze, letting their leathery skin soak in the ocean air. They bore facial features more closely related to a monkey’s and possessed rather long tails that helped their gliding.

The ocean breeze dragged into the room, causing the white silk curtains of the arches and the bed to flutter about. The room seemed to be lullabied by the flowing fabric, enough to the point that Kai nearly felt the urge to doze off. He had been awake since the day they arrived, not ever resting a moment for fear of something happening and he would be too late to respond. Four days without sleep is not nearly as destructive to Allve as it is for humans, but Kai’s body was in desperate need of rest if he wanted his body to heal any sort of properly. As the nursemaids left and Kyungsoo had been tended to for the afternoon, Kai started to fall comfortable to the routine and nearly fell asleep sitting in a chair at his bedside. Had it not been for the book in his lap falling over and startling him (and causing him to grab his knife in his ankle boot) he would have missed watching as Kyungsoo’s chest sighed and body continue to turn in the sheets. The human was fast asleep, a completely different state than when he was unconscious. Now, his body could recognize the soft layers of linen and the pillows that surrounded him. At some point he had grabbed onto a pillow and held it tight to his chest as his bare legs entangled in the white sheets.

Kai wanted so terribly to call out for the human, to wake him up and greet him. But he knew to let the human rest, no matter how much he wanted to see those large brown eyes.

But as an hour slipped by and Kai sat with an even closer watch on the human, Kyungsoo finally started to stir with life. He sighed and stretched, crinkling his stiff hands and straightening his tight back. He took a deep breath in and smiled ever so gently at the calming scent of clean ocean air and fragrantly fruity linen. He delved in the scent of the pillow under his head for a moment more before slowly opening his eyes, adjusting them against the white drapes that danced with an easy breeze.

Through the opaque drapes he could see the outline of a person, catching small glimpses of their seated position through the bits that would allow it. It was in that moment that Kyungsoo had no idea of where he was or what was even happening in his line sight. That was, of course, until a slender hand reached around the silk drapes and pulled them off to the side. Before Kyungsoo’s adjusting eyes had been a sight he could honestly say he had never been happier to see. There was Kai, dressed in white, embroidered in gold, clothes. A beautiful white tunic hugged his form, it wrapped high on his neck and opened under his chest and down his navel. There, chains with white jewels hung and shimmered against his velvet skin. Around his shoulders was a pale blue and brocade designed shawl; it trailed down to the floor over the tunic. His arms were bare and magnificent for all to see, decorated in gold rings and beaded bracelets that encased his biceps. Everything about the bright colors he wore made him shine in all the glorious sunlight that leaked in. Such beautiful bronze skin adorned in luminescent tattoos were only accentuated by the overflowing light. Kyungsoo was sure that he died and could only gaze upon what he assumed to be an angel.

As Kai’s hair flitted in the breeze, stray strands grazing his face and falling upon his chest, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but let himself be ensnared by those brilliant golden eyes. It had all happened so fast, taking in every last bit of the alien’s radiance he could barely find a single word to leave his lips. Instead, an image of a butterfly replayed in his mind, the Lemon Emigrant to be exact. He could feel the kisses of fluttering wings all about his skin, from the breeze and the soft linens surrounding his body.

All Kyungsoo could do was smile. His heart swelled with the elation of Kai, how healthy he looked, how beautiful he glistened and how delicate he reminded him of a butterfly.

Kai fell out of his chair and dropped to his knees to lean over the bed side. Kyungsoo couldn’t distinguish the face he was making, but it sure made his heart flutter.

“Chadad an’olan.” Kai said in an easy voice.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and smiled into a stretch. “I don’t know what that means.” The human found his voice to be scarce, hardly anything but a raspy sound emitting.

“It’s means good morning… essentially.” A small smile curled on his lips.

Kyungsoo’s smile widened in his sleepy state at Kai’s smile. He rested his head against a pillow and allowed himself to gaze into Kai’s eyes. Both silent and letting the space between them fill with each other.

“Where are we?” Kyungsoo eventually asked after the sleepiness lifted from his body and he could focus on the room a little better.

“We are in my home. In the city of Alle, resting in my personal chambers.” He said still in a gentle tone.

Kyungsoo’s brows furrowed and he craned his neck to get a better look at the room, though it came with a price. A pain shot through his shoulder and arm that caused him to wince. “..But.. But I thought..?”

“Yes, I’m still banished,” He said as he pressed a strong hand on Kyungsoo’s chest to lay him back down. “I’m under house arrest and severe watch. They allowed me to stay and have you treated. But you are not healed all the way. It will take some time before you recover all the way.”

Kyungsoo allowed his body to move as Kai wished, not daring to go against the pain in his body. Though, he was very confused as to what was going on and why his body was in so much pain.

“What.. What happened to me?”

“The shards of the last taurn you touched,” he raised Kyungsoo’s right hand, it was wrapped in a rather soft fabric. “You were cut by them.”

“Yeah.. It hurt, a lot, but it wasn’t enough to make me pass out? I don’t remember getting here.”

“Yes, you did pass out. And yes, it was enough for them to make you pass out. Though, you should have when you first got cut. The energy that surges through those gems flowed into you, it should have been enough pain to put you out and enough energy to drain you. But the adrenaline rushing through your veins must have prolonged the side effects. You should have died soon after just one cut, but you suffered several.” Kai raised the hand to his face and pressed it to his forehead. “When we escaped Krakatos’s failing planet structure, I took us to Leyik, hoping to find refuge again with the inhabitants. But you had already gone limp in my hands when we arrived. The traveling must have been too much stress and caused you to faint. But I knew it wasn’t anything normal. I could see the energy of the taurn spreading up your arm. So, I did the next best thing I could and took you to my people, to save you from the sickness that was plaguing you.”

Kyungsoo stayed silent for a moment, letting the information sink in.

“So..We’re.. Definitely on your home planet, right now?”

“Yes.”

Kyungsoo turned to look at the top of the canopy, letting his mind settle with the information once more. “Oh.” He said simply. “What about Carn? Did we do it? Did we succeed?” He turned to look at the elf.

“As far as we know, yes.” Kai stated and offered a smile to the human. “My people and surrounding planets of the Eletrin Pact have been keeping watch. Right now Krakatos is acting as its own sun, well, at least the remains of it.”

“What happened?”

“The taurns released an energy so powerful that it was able to smother Carn. Already a fifth of what it destroyed has been gained back, with new space creating life as we know it. Right now, what we accomplished is still taking place. A ray of light—energy is still projecting itself onto Carn, pushing it further and further back. We don’t know how long it will last, but what matters is that we have bought more time against Carn. Surrounding planets in the galaxy system are under relocation. The aftershocks from the universe expanding again is throwing planets out of line with the sun and causing havoc on the inhabitants. Some planets are predicted to collide if they keep getting pushed out of orbit, so precautions have been made for the people on inhabited planets.”

“So that means.. Chan and his family…!” Kyungsoo’s eyes widened with the growing fear.

“Yes, I’ve personally asked for a ship to seek their family out. I just hope they can find them with the descriptions of land I gave.. They really were in the middle of nowhere.”

Kyungsoo threw his head back onto his pillow and let out a sigh of relief. “Good… So we actually managed to do it,” he frowned. “But at what cost? People’s livelihoods have been put at stake..”

“Yes, but the fact they even have a chance to keep moving on is the victory in itself. None of them would be alive without us.” Kai reached a hand out and held onto Kyungsoo’s with ease. It was a reassuring gesture that warmed the human immediately.

“I guess you’re right..” He smiled for the alien. “…How long was I out?”

“About four days, as Eleto goes.”

“Four days?!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, knowing that the days were much longer on Eleto than Earth. Kai nodded with ease. “…Damn. Well, I don’t feel too bad after lying down for four days straight.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Allve medicine is one of the best in the universe.. Well.. known universe. But you aren’t completely healed as I said before. It’ll take time for your body to fully recover since the energy of the taurn was taken out. It left severe nerve damage and internal bleeding; your insides were basically disintegrating so reconstruction of your arm and neck interiors was implemented.”

Kyungsoo could only furrow his eyebrows and stare at the alien in utter disbelief. “I _just_ woke up, my brain can only handle so much right now. You’re going to have to explain this all again later.”

Kai let a light chuckle leave his lips, “And I will gladly do so. For now, rest easy. I will call for the nursemaids and food.” He released Kyungsoo’s hand and stood over the bedside, leaning down and brushing his hand through the soft peach fuzz hair.

As Kai walked away and the curtains retained their natural state, Kyungsoo sank his head back into the soft pillows. Kai knocked on the door twice, then the sound of a door opening and hushed voices filled the room. He lifted his head to look in the direction of the voices, but the strain on his neck proved to be too much. There was a pain like burning fire riding down his neck, chest and arm, all on the right side. He lifted his hand and looked for any indications of cuts or where the pain could be coming from, but there was nothing. Not even the cuts that the taurns left were visible. He pulled the silken white sleeve of the robes he was wearing to see if there was anything else, but still, no marks. He looked good as new. But as his mind drifted off, recalling the events that lead up to him lying in a bed, hospitalized, he remembered the awful feeling of Aleyth when she was inside his head.

_“_ _I am losing control, I wish nothing more than to remove your head and spill his blood on my father’s grave. Leave. Before I end both of you.”_

Those words rang like dissonant chimes and made his skin crawl. It felt like he was listening to someone grate their nails on a chalkboard, unpleasant.

Aleyth was nowhere near the vicinity, not even close to the same galaxy system, yet he could recall the feeling she left behind like it had just happened.

“Are you alright?” Kai’s voice suddenly appeared.

Kyungsoo jumped at the sudden appearance. “Oh geez…” He rested a hand over his chest. “You scared me… Yes, I’m alright… I just… Aleyth was in my head before we left.. And I just.. Remember it very vividly..”

Kai leaned over and rested a hand on Kyungsoo’s head, whispered a few words before leaning over and blowing air on it. “That should keep the feelings away. I know what it’s like to have her in your head. It’s not pleasant. It lasts for months.”

“Great..” Kyungsoo snorted, but the overwhelming anxious feeling that had been building up was already disappearing. It was all calm within a matter of minutes.

“I hope you don’t mind, but news of your waking will reach my father. He’ll want to meet you later.”

“Your father? Like the supreme ruler father?”

“Yes. High king to be more technical.”

“Kai, there’s no way I’m ready for that. How do I address him, how do I even greet him? Do I bow? Do I look away? Am I supposed to kiss his fingers—wait no, that’s wrong. You guys don’t like mouths—”

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time. I can teach you all about it. He won’t join us until later this evening. And if you’re not ready to meet him then he will have to wait.”

“I’m… Not gonna argue with that.” Kyungsoo nodded.

“Good. The nursemaids are on their way with food. They’ll give you a checkup and we’ll discuss your ‘physical therapy’ for the next couple of weeks.”

“ _Weeks_?!”

“More or less. It depends on how you do, and how long we have to stay here. The Council is… quite displeased with me right now. Any wrong move and they could easily have me removed from the planet.”

“Yeugh,” he groaned. “Doesn’t your father get a say in any of this?”

“He does, but the law is law. Even he must abide by absolute law. There can only be so much exemption made.”

Kyungsoo sighed and Kai took his place in the golden seat. “Then let’s hope this works out.”

Not long after, the nursemaids arrived with soups and hot teas, all of which Kyungsoo gladly tried a little bit of and thoroughly enjoyed. The textures were weird, but the flavors were to die for. He was spoon fed by Kai for the most part (an extremely embarrassing moment for him) but he had little mobility in his right arm and trying his left wasn’t any better. He was weaker than usual, so he needed an extra hand.

They changed his outfit and rubbed his body down of any excess oils he might have produced, all with much screaming involved. Servants watched from the corners of their eyes as they stood a ways from the bed. The nursemaids, which consisted of many men, were not very gentle with his body and made him feel like a ragdoll. But eventually he was rested back down and they began to assess a routine for physical therapy. Kai did most of the translating and was eager to help every step of the way. Kai was in fact, a crucial part of Kyungsoo’s recovery, as many of the exercises involved someone guiding him around.

It took some time before Kyungsoo was moving out of the bed and walking around. Baby steps, and even then, he still needed heavy supervision. It took about five days before Kyungsoo was walking around Kai’s room and another two before he was walking by himself. His arm took the longest in rehabilitation and stayed the least mobile of his body, but at least he was making progress.

He would never know it, but his right arm and neck would forever cause him discomfort for his remaining years.

The first night that Kyungsoo woke, the High king of Alle did in fact greet them. Kai spent the afternoon teaching him a few words and mannerisms. It was all a highly intimidating situation, especially when the king looked ready to lash out with how much he was frowning. But apparently, it turned out fairly well. Even if the king still did not approve of Kai’s love for the human and had a lack of knowledge on them, he was quite pleased with Kyungsoo’s personality. He was polite and quiet, already the makes for a good Allve. But Kyungsoo was grateful he never had to see the king again after that meeting—the man was quite intimidating.

As Kyungsoo’s therapy progressed, there was only so much that Kai’s room could offer. He had read many of the books with Kai and had seen just about everything in the room at least twice. Even the nursemaids could feel Kyungsoo’s unrest as the week progressed and immediately suggested a new part of his rehabilitation. This was for Kyungsoo to get exercise outside of Kai’s room. Of course, Kyungsoo was elated with the idea but Kai was rather…apprehensive. He did not trust the nursemaids enough to walk Kyungsoo around the grounds and strictly did not trust anyone who might approach them. It was entirely possible Kyungsoo could be kidnapped by anyone (not just Allve) and used for live study. It would have been a simple fix if Kai merely appointed some of his most trusted guards on the human, but he was being rather dramatic about it all. Instead, Kai petitioned to the courts that he be freed of his confinement to his room and allowed freedom to roam the castle—for the sake of Kyungsoo. With much debate amongst the courts people, they eventually agreed to let Kai roam the castle on one condition: they could meet Kyungsoo.

Of course, this again did not sit well with Kai but agreed, nonetheless. Kyungsoo had a difficult time after that moment, having to greet so many different officials in so many different forms. Then to have Kai translate between those speaking and himself; it was a nuisance really. But getting to leave Kai’s fabulous room to see the rest of the extravagant castle was enough to keep him motivated. The courtroom/throne room literally had small waterfalls and ponds with exotic lily pads and brightly colored fish. Gold plated just about every accent as the walls and pillars were made of a more cream, marble-based substance. Chunks of crystals were mounted on sconces and burned like fire, due to some form of beautiful magic Kyungsoo could only dare to dream about. It was truly breathtaking.

With the new instructions added, Kyungsoo and Kai spent their afternoon’s and evenings wondering the castle. Meals were four times a day, so each meal pursued a steady walk afterwards. The first two or three days were slow, as they could barely get anywhere before Kyungsoo’s body began to ache with discomfort. Most of it was phantom pain from his body trying to accept the new veins and nerves, but it was enough to stop them for a while.

It was on the fourth day, nearly two weeks since Kai brought them, after their dinner and Kyungsoo was feeling particularly refreshed, did the two walk a bit further in the castle. Arm in arm, and two guards following.

Kai spoke softly to Kyungsoo and pointed out artifacts of his people, murals and paintings and gave brief histories of each. He named the weapons and plants that lined arch ways or panels, some of them being gifts from other intergalactic races. He would explain each with care and Kyungsoo was always so enthralled, listening to the last detail.

But as they moseyed around, they had come upon a section of a hallways where the walls opened to a rather large balcony. A fountain with running water had been in the middle of a grassy patch, stone pathways leading around them otherwise. The water shimmered with gold light, as the bright red fish inside danced around. Kyungsoo sat at the edge of the fountain and watched in awe. The moon shone bright overhead and the light of Krakatos still burning like a comet. It all glimmered down on the pool of water, giving it an extra element of luminescent blue. Everything was so vibrant on Eleto, like it all hummed with energy: even the pages of old worn down books.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y7qCrUJ5t0&index=11&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) - the balcony of Alle

A cool wind carried the ocean air by, Kyungsoo took in a deep inhale of the clean air and sighed out in content. He dipped his hand into the clear water, surprised to find that it was rather moderate in temperature. He watched as the fish immediately flocked to his hand, little tentacle like appendages coming from their mouths and kissing him gently. It was cute, for their eyes and faces were round like puffer fishes, giving them the illusion of a sweet innocent smile. They kissed (cleansed) his hand in joy and swam in circles until they had their fill. Kyungsoo was new and full of weird bacteria that they quite enjoyed eating. Kai had introduced him to the fish a while back, most fountains in the castle have a school of them because of their wonderful use as a filtrating system. They produced some of the cleanest water earth could ever hope to have.

When the human raised his head to look for Kai, he found the alien walking with a particularly delicate step to the edge of the balcony. Kyungsoo looked back at the arch ways and noticed how the two guards stood watch from there; they were properly giving them space to roam the area. He was grateful for that.

Kyungsoo rose to his feet with ease, minding his arm and holding it carefully to keep balance. With each step he watched as Kai’s hair gingerly drifted in the breeze, his back side strong and prominent against the night sky and white moon. The snow white tunic he sported dangled between his legs, but not before showing off the middle of his back. His harem pants cut off at his knees in an intricate gold trim, while he wore golden open-toed shoes that trailed his legs in an enticing manner. Kai’s outfits were always so revealing and elegant, and significantly more beautiful than any other Allve he had come across. Kyungsoo almost wished he could wear things as beautiful as that, instead he was stuck wearing hospital gowns which were just extravagant overly long shirts (in the children’s size). Eventually, he found his place next to Kai, peeking at the male’s face before taking in the view below. Kai’s eyes were shut, his chin slightly out yet everything was content, breathing in that fresh home air was all he needed.

The view before them was breathtaking. The city of Alle down below, all leading to the moon-lit ocean. Buildings came in all shapes and sizes, some round and others rectangular with many overhead tents They all looked as if they were made of clay, or at least a substance like adobe houses; pale orange in color against the dark ocean. Bright colorful lights trickled in and out with whatever signals they were emitting, fires of magic lit street lamps and the tops of certain buildings as beacons. Palm tree like flora decorate the streets whenever possible, giant shrubs of tropical manner doing the same. The leathery birds flew high in the sky in the flocks, resting on house tops in the chances they could get. Other unidentifiable objects glided around, at building length or higher. They were small transportable vehicles, bringing one person (or two) to and fro.

Just from the view alone, Kyungsoo could see why Kai would be so homesick. He would be too if he was forced out of place like this.

 “You know..” He started to spike up a new conversation. “It’s weird seeing you without your calus. I half expect that every time we meet someone new that we’ll end up in some sort of danger and you’ll need to take us somewhere else.”

Kai let out a breathy chuckle, “Yes. It feels odd, not having it.”

Kyungsoo pressed his stomach against the railing of the balcony and took a deep breath of the fresh air once more. The sweet air reminded him heavily of Kai. It was a good smell.

 “I could get used to this.” Kyungsoo let out with closed eyes and a toothy smile.

Kai did not respond and simply smiled to himself.

Kyungsoo leaned over the railing further, it had just reached his ribcage and allowed him to lean further into the wind that danced around.

“You saw this every day?” He asked over the sounds of the city below, the birds, the wind, and the voices of the people carried on that wind.

“Not anymore.” Kai’s voice came soft.

“Mmm.” Kyungsoo hummed. The two stayed there, reveling in their company and the view below.

At some point Kyungsoo tore away from the city and turned to Kai, only to find his stern eyes watching him. “What’s the matter?”

“...I don’t know what to do after you do not need us.”

Kyungsoo let his eyes roam Kai, thinking of something that would comfort the alien.

“You could try appealing to the court again with your story. Now that I’m awake they might take it more seriously.” Kyungsoo turned his body and leaned his back against the railing this time, never taking his eyes from the man next to him.

Kai looked down and chuckled to himself, “I could do that.” He fiddled with his hands that had been placed on top of the balcony rail. “But it’s more complicated than that.. They’d think you were lying, too.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out… Aleyth isn’t following you right now, and you’re your father’s last heir. There has to be something.” Kyungsoo frowned. “You just have to let me stay here for like a couple months. I would very much like to get to know this place.” He quickly added a smile to hide the growing apprehension in his chest. He genuinely wanted to stay for a very long time, but the real reason was to spend more time with Kai.

“What will you do after that?” Kai focused his gaze on the human, his golden eyes almost intimidating.

“I-I dunno.. Ask you to take me back to Earth or something.” Kyungsoo shrugged, he could feel the tension rising further and further between them. “It’s not like we _need_ to be together anymore. We did what Xanin asked, we saved the universe, we stopped Carn...”

“ _You_ saved the universe.” Kai had said quite seriously, this caught Kyungsoo off guard.

“What? N-No! We both did, we both got the gems and we both put them in the—”

“But you were the one to figure it out in the end. I would not have been able to do this without you, Kyungsoo. I owe you my everything.” Kai then got down on one knee, taking Kyungsoo’s hand and pressing it to his forehead. “I deem your duty fulfilled. You have helped me to the very end until you could no longer. Thank you.”

Kyungsoo watched in awe as a very faint golden light glowed at the connection of his hand and Kai’s forehead. It was like the time they made a promise, he guessed that Kai’s declaration so long ago had more meaning than he anticipated.

This did not make Kyungsoo happy. Now were the true beginning stages to their departure, to the part where they did not need to be together anymore. Kyungsoo did not want that.

“That’s is?” He asked in a meek voice.

Kai raised a brow and watched the human carefully before standing tall.

“That is it.” He stood close and kept the human’s hand in his as he placed the other on the soft pale cheek.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and leaned into the touch with a strong breath.

“I can take you home, finally. Once you are as healthy as can be.”

At that, Kyungsoo grabbed onto Kai’s hand and kept it pressed firmly against his face. His chest constricted and heart pounded uncomfortably. All he wanted was to love this man and stay by his side. The pain was evident on his face, from both the physical pain in his arm and the breaking of his heart.

Kyungsoo turned his head and pressed the palm of Kai’s large hand on lips. He opened his eyes and made absolute sure to avoid Kai; but as he reluctantly and slowly released the hand, his eyes couldn’t help but trail up.

Kai’s face was as conflicted as his and it confused him. Was he making such a pained expression because of the kiss?

“I-I’m sorry.. I shouldn’t have—”

Kai stepped closer, closing any and all space between them. It was all very slow, but so unpredicted that Kyungsoo lost all train of thought as the alien’s face moved closer and closer..and closer.

Centimeter’s now between their lips, eyes fixed on one another intently. Kyungsoo’s face felt the wrath of his embarrassment and refused to calm down. Kai used both hands to cup Kyungsoo’s head and tilt him up even further.

“May I..?”

“What?” Kyungsoo responded with nothing but air, a shiver running down his spine as he felt Kai’s warm breath against his lips.

“Try to kiss?”

All able and responsive coherent thoughts went out the door the second he processed those words. It took barely a second after that for him to stand on his tippy toes and boop their lips together. Kai was rather tall compared to him, so his effort to kiss nearly made him launch on the poor alien.

Kai quickly snaked his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist and held him at a comfortable spot to keep their lips moving. The two guards across the balcony both stiffened and scrunched their noses in disgust. What kind of interaction was that? A foul and dirty one that’s for sure. They almost couldn’t believe their prince would take part in such an odd action. It wasn’t illegal to kiss someone, but severely frowned upon.

The pain in Kyungsoo’s arm shot up his neck and down his back, but honestly, it was all worth it. Those precious plump lips he had been dying to taste again were just as he remembered. Faint hints of the flower infused tea they drank at supper still lingering and the sweet syrup from desert.

It was a difficult task, but he managed to raise his arms through their squished state on Kai’s chest and wrapped them duly around his neck. His hands quickly getting lost in the soft locks of white. He gave a small hop and wrapped his legs around Kai’s waist, successfully encompassing himself on the male.

A quick turn of their bodies and Kai sat Kyungsoo on the railing of the balcony, mind you their lips were still very much connected. Not even the thought of Kai dropping him scared him in the least. Instead, he gnawed and licked at the perfect lips on his own, each new thing he did earned a quick response of the same done to him. It wasn’t long until they were both tasting a little more intensely, tongues full on getting small touches on each other.

Kyungsoo pulled away quickly, mainly because he was out of breath, but also because the kiss went on for much longer than he ever anticipated.

With a panting voice he asked, “Are you okay?”

For some reason, Kai was also a little out of breath and the apples of his cheeks were so perfectly pink. His body shook a little, to Kyungsoo’s surprise. Vibrating almost, really.

“Kai?” Kyungsoo pressed a little more urgently when the alien just stared at him.

“I…” He stuttered. “I-I.. I don’t know how I feel right now.”

Kyungsoo gave an incredulous look. “Well is it good or bad?”

“Both… But mostly, good..? I think?”

“Well that’s good.. I think... I should have asked before I went ahead and kissed you, but why?”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Kai breathed out. “Because I love you. And I don’t want to leave you.”

“Uh..” Kyungsoo’s mouth dropped and a breath of unarticulated air left his lips. “Huuuuuuh—” He gathered himself for a moment before speaking again. “Okay, what kind of love?? I don’t know about your people, but humans have made love a very complicated matter and we have different categories and I’m sure the ones I feel for you are very different from the one you feel for me. There’s romantic, there’s platonic, affection, sexual and probably some others that I don’t know because I don’t keep up as well as I should and honestly it’s not any of my business what people feel but I’m dying to know which one you feel for me and basically now I’m rambling—” He let out all in one continuous breath. His nerves were getting the better of him, all jumbling about in an excited state.

“Since you’re asking so nicely, yes I’ll stay. I’ll stay ten times longer if it means I can be with you.” The smile on his lips grew to all teeth, Kai responded with another glorious toothy one. It was a new face he never thought he’d get to see and it really was a special treat. Kyungsoo leaned in and pressed his lips onto Kai’s, both of them smiling like fools as they did so.

“When you’re better, let’s go. Anywhere you want, and I’ll take you.” Kai said suddenly.

Kyungsoo was still mulling over the fact Kai was kissing him but responded, “But if it’s anywhere.. That means I have the whole universe… But.. How can we go somewhere I don’t know? I only know the places we’ve been and nothing of whatever else lies out there, and I want to go everywhere.”

“Then we’ll start here. We’ll spend a couple months here in the main city and then spend a year or two traveling around the planet. I’ll show you everything.”

“But your banishment…?”

“We still have some time to see if I can get the banishment lifted for a while, or at least find a way through the law. I am still crown prince, so I can ‘pull a few strings’.” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Kyungsoo chuckled. “Alright, I’ll take your word on it.. But just so you know, no matter where we go from here, we’re stuck with each other. Just based on these experiences alone, we have a special bond now. People don’t just go through things like that and just _stop_ being together. Especially if they’ve fallen in love… It’ll take a lot more than brute force to keep me from, so be prepared.”

The two laughed joyously, oh it was a merry sound for all who had happened to hear.

“Then that is a good omen. I accept it with all my being.” Kai said as he took Kyungsoo down from the balustrade.

The two stood there, cradled in each other’s arms and gazing so tenderly into the other’s eyes. A few servants who had passed by all took careful perches behind the archways to spy on the two. Snickering and giggling with whatever ridiculousness was ensuing between them. The guards were so caught off by their interactions that they too couldn’t help but let the servant’s gander and walk away with snide looks upon their faces.

In another moment, Kyungsoo couldn’t resist the overflowing emotions running through his heart. How pure and full of love he felt just looking at the alien before him made his lips grow ten-fold in a smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he smiled so much. He just wanted to scream it at the top of his lungs and let the whole world know he was in love. But instead, he took a cuter and more… Embarrassing route to show it.

The human raised a hand and placed it gently against Kai’s chest, right where his heart would lay. Through that motion he let every ounce of love and happiness he was feeling pour into Kai, metaphorically, of course.

“What.. are you doing?” Kai asked with a raised brow.

“I’m trying to send to you all the good and happy feelings and memories I have with you.” He really didn’t mean much by it, he was just trying to be a little cute. He knew full well he had no magic ability to _actually_ do it, but he would never truly know how much it meant to Kai. Just the fact alone he remembered that Allve shared intimate emotions like that and wanted to partake was enough for him.

“Elan ha’vehn.” Kai had whispered as he held onto Kyungsoo’s hand and closed his eyes. He could not feel anything, but it was the earnest attempt that made his heart fill with mirth. “To bind one’s soul is a heavy burden when you are not Allve. Are you sure this is what you ask for?”

“Wait, what? I thought you could just send emotions to people without that binding thing? You did it before.”

“Yes, you can do that. But this act is more notably used for Soul Binding. We associate it with that more than anything.”

“Uhh.. Is it really possible for us to do that?” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen at the elf.

“I don’t know. I’d have to investigate more… I would rather not risk anything now, just in case it’s not healthy for you.”

“Oh!” Kyungsoo could feel his whole face grow hot. “No! I didn’t mean now! Or, well, ever. I was just trying to be… Cute. I just wanted you to know how I feel, even though I know you can’t that way. It’s kinda too soon for Soul Binding or whatever; that’s like getting married right after you tell someone you love them for the first time. Oh, no. Nope, we should take this slow.” He laughed uncomfortably.

“If that is what you wish, then so shall it be.” Kai had cupped Kyungsoo’s face again and pressed their foreheads together. It was so calming to just stand there and finally not have to worry too much about what lie ahead.

“Okay it doesn’t have to be _that_ slow. The kisses, I could supplement the whole ‘sending my feelings to you’ thing with kisses. If you don’t mind.” Kyungsoo asked with a hint of playfulness.

“I can do that.” Kai hummed his response, eyes still closed.

“Are you sure? We really don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Kai’s eyes opened and glimmered onto the human’s face. “No, I am starting to become accustomed to it. It’s not so bad to taste you like that.” He leaned in, “May I?”

Kyungsoo chuckled, “You don’t have to ask every time you want to kiss me. You can just lean in and I’ll reciprocate easily enough.”

Kai took that as his answer and left a chaste kiss upon the red lips, still puffy from their previous session. It wasn’t nearly long enough for Kyungsoo and made him rather disappointed he couldn’t have more.

“Would it be wrong if I asked you to ask me before you kissed me?” Kai asked the moment he pulled away.

“No, of course not! It’s only fair since you aren’t used to it. And I’m sure your family and people will be weirded out by it, so I won’t do it publicly.” Kyungsoo smiled for the alien and turned around in the alien’s arms, letting his back press against Kai’s rather hard and toned body. Kai responded by wrapping his arms around Kyungsoo and resting his chin on top of the peach fuzz head.

“The public does not bother me. They will have to get over it and accept it, like everything else. They do not have to partake. But thank you, for understanding. I appreciate it.” He smiled and pressed a kiss on top of the human’s head.

They had stayed in that position for a very long time, swaying back and forth as the wind passed them by. Watching the lights glisten in the city below and the hustle and bustle of people move on. But more importantly, they would turn their gaze every so often to the bright light in the sky, wondering how it was possible for that to have been caused by them. How something that took so long to accomplish was done in the blink of an eye. Even the fact that they were alive, standing on the balcony of Kai’s home was a mystery to them. They were just out there, on Krakatos, about two weeks ago, yet it was all in the past now. Like it had never happened.

An odd sense of emptiness filled Kyungsoo, like he really had no idea what his purpose in life was anymore. He did just about the most amazing thing any one person could ever dream of and s _urvived_. He could cross everything off on his bucket list because none of them would compare to what had just happened. They had just stopped one of the most vicious things that the universe had to offer, so of course any fears he had on a bucket list would diminish.

Would he do it all over again? Absolutely not.

Would he do it just because Kai asked him to? Probably. But mostly because it meant he could spend more time with the alien.

Kai then suddenly fixed his grip of the human, holding him just a tad tighter. Kyungsoo had nearly forgotten he was wrapped in Kai’s warm arms, it was so comfortable he nearly forgot where he even was in the first place. That was when the softest of smiles spread his lips and the emptiness in his stomach disappeared.

His next journey was Kai.

Where they went did not matter, so long as they could be together.

Kyungsoo fixed his grip on Kai then, too. Holding him more secure and with confidence.

It was a sight to behold, as two hearts beat strong against one another. Maybe not as one, but side by side in a perfect sort of harmony. They were in love. And they were together.

Nothing was going to keep them separated now.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnTplu65-0Q&t=0s&index=13&list=PLEbFDexY2FmNyrRRJE4s8MLCyKOro-uym) - the end 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for joining me on this journey. I hope you liked it and I can't wait to share more works with you.
> 
> This is what ksoo and kai look like!! Height difference and everything (I don't use photoshop or anything so mind the awful cropping) https://i.imgur.com/ZU6KZPN.jpg

**Author's Note:**

> Previously written for happyendingexo ficfest but there were major plot holes that bothered me and I asked them to take it down, but the creators have been MIA for a couple months. So I'm reposting with more chapters/scenes and better writing.
> 
> Don't know how long it will take to update but please bare with me. I hope you like it!
> 
> I also sorta made up small parts of a language, but I didn't do a very good job, idfk how to do it and I just put down whatever sounded elvish in my head. And then later in the story I tried plugging things in to make it seem like a language but we shall see lol
> 
> Here's the first translations:
> 
> Shisen wena, ku’uma nothelion - Who are you, and where am I?  
> Shisen wena - who are you  
> Ku’uma nothelion - and where am I?  
> Kalan por thune - Answer me/Speak plainly!


End file.
